These Words On My Diary Screaming Out Loud
by vampirediva07
Summary: Callie is pregnant with Mark's baby...but so is Lexie. She left for Boston with a lot more than a broken heart. Find out what happens when two hearts collide in the most unexpected way again. Rated T for now, but some chapters could be M later and will be labeled as such.
1. Irresponsibility and Responsibility

**A/N: I got this idea from something I had been reading a while back...let me know what you think! This starts shortly after Mark and Lexie broke up when he told her that Callie was pregnant with his baby. I don't own Grey's...believe me, if I did...things would have been WAY different for Slexie.**

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_March 21, 2011_

_Karma must really be a cruel bitch or I'm just the most unlucky person in the world. I left Seattle to come to Boston so I wouldn't have to see Mark father a child with Callie and as luck would have it, I'm pregnant with Mark Sloan's baby too. I knew something was off when I first moved at the beginning of the month, but ignored it because I thought it was moving stress. But when I noticed my missed periods…I knew something wasn't right and took the damn pregnancy test a week ago. Positive. I am pregnant. I, Alexandra Caroline Grey, the most responsible human being when it came to sex, am pregnant; with Mark Sloan's third child. Not even here a month and already he has creeped back into my life in a way I can't escape! I went to the abortion clinic yesterday, but just couldn't go through with it because this is my child. And no matter how unprepared I am or unready for a baby, I can't destroy something Mark and I created because we loved each other. Even if I'm angry with him for putting me in a position I wasn't ready for twice and now this, I can't help but feel love for this child. _

_I went to my OB here in Boston for the first time this morning and saw the heartbeat – I'm about 10 weeks pregnant and my due date is around the end of October, meaning this baby was conceived right before Mark came clean about Callie being pregnant to me. When I tried to call Mark and tell him, I chickened out and hung up…11 times, so I just can't tell him over the phone. My next weekend off, I'm going to go out to Seattle and tell him. He deserves to know, even if I will be living her from now on. Now I just have to plan for becoming a mother during residency, which was never my original plan in life. But I have to suck it up, right? I'm going to be a mother…someone's mom. And that thought scares the ever loving crap out of me._

Lexie closed her journal and sighed, putting it on the shelf in her study. This apartment wasn't big, but it was just enough for her…and her future child. She had moved here after Mark told her that Callie was pregnant, not being able to handle the love of her life having a child with someone else when she told him once before she wasn't ready for children. And now…she had basically slapped that in the face by getting pregnant herself. But she couldn't go back now and tell him…not while he was so happy with the new family he was already creating with Callie and Arizona. No one else knew about her pregnancy, so she knew that she had to keep it to herself for the time being because she had no support system here. Even Meredith didn't know yet, which she knew would change soon.

She had taken the position of a resident at Mass General and so far, things had been going okay there because she was getting along with her co-workers, who were pretty impressed with her photographic memory and surgical skills that none of them had yet learned as second year residents, which she found kind of odd. But it gave her an advantage and learning curve far above theirs, which is what she needed if she was going to be a mother by the end of the year.

As she looked around her office, she sighed and picked up her phone from the desk and looked at her most recent text messages from her sister. Meredith was seeking her advice about the adoption that Derek wanted to go through with, but she knew that only Meredith could answer her own questions about becoming a mother and what she felt about that. Her own feelings were that her sister would be a good mother, but that was something Meredith needed to figure out for herself. Staring at her phone, she knew that she needed to tell Meredith…to at least prepare her for the trip she would be making out to Seattle soon, so she called her sister's phone.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end said.

"Mer…it's uh…it's Lexie," she said nervously. "Are you busy?"

She knew her sister was trying to get in good for Chief Resident, so she wasn't sure if she was working, at home, or out somewhere.

"Um no, I'm at home…what's up?" Meredith asked, concern lacing her voice since she hadn't heard from Lexie in about a week or so.

"There's something I have to tell you and it's really going to um…shock you, so are you sitting down? Please tell me you're sitting down and by yourself," she rambled on quickly, trying not to sound so nervous since she was also fighting down her own nausea at the moment.

"Yeah I'm sitting down…and Derek's at the hospital. What's going on Lexie?" the elder Grey asked.

"Okay, so you know that I left for Boston because Mark got Callie pregnant and now I'm here, settled, and everything is going good for me," she said, not really pausing to give Meredith time to answer before she went on. "But when I got here, I felt like crap and at first I thought that it was because of the move and trying to get over Mark when I was still angry at him and loved him. So I ignored it and kept on working, hoping I'd get over whatever it was that was making me feel bad but it didn't go away and then I realized that my period was late…like really late. Two months late, just about. So I went to the drug store and I got a pregnancy test last week…it's positive Mer. I'm pregnant with Mark Sloan's baby and I just…I'm in Boston. I came here to get away from Mark and now this…"

"Lexie…you're pregnant, with Mark Sloan's baby?" Meredith asked, sounding somewhat surprised and shocked at the same time.

"Yeah…" she replied, hanging her head as she looked at the desk. "I'm about…10 weeks or so, due in October."

"Have you told him yet?"

"No…I was going to call and then I chickened out…11 times so far, but I just…I can't tell him over the phone. Not about something like this," she defended, shaking her head as she felt a few tears burgeoning in her eyes. "I thought about flying out to Seattle on my first weekend off. Could I stay with you and Derek for those few days?"

"Of course," Meredith replied, her voice softening a little with sisterly concern. "Are you…going to keep it?"

Lexie couldn't help but feel awful because she knew how hard her sister had wanted her own child, but she and Derek just couldn't get pregnant. And now she was pregnant with a baby she hadn't wanted to have at this point in her life, which made her feel even guiltier than she already felt.

"I decided I was going to keep it…I had my first OB appointment today and saw the heart beating," she answered, feeling her throat thicken with the emotions bubbling over inside of herself. "It was really…there's really a baby in there, Mer. There was a heart beating and this little bean shaped thing. It's growing inside of me and…it's Mark's and I…I don't know what to do or what is going to happen to me. I mean…I know _medically_, but I just…"

In the beginning, Lexie's relationship with her older sister was rocky at best, but now she knew that she could talk to Meredith about things and be honest with her. Their relationship had become closer over the years that Lexie had spent in Seattle during her internship and residency, but Lexie was scared and didn't know where to turn now because all of her support was in Seattle….right where Mark was.

"Lexie, calm down…it's going to be alright," Meredith said calmly, trying to get Lexie to breathe and to calm herself down since she was getting worked up about everything. "Come to Seattle for a few days and we'll get things figured out. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Thank you Mer…I really appreciate everything you're doing for me," Lexie replied, looking down at her desk as she held the phone to her ear, still somewhat shaking and scared. "I'll let you know as soon as I have my flight information and when I'm coming out there."

"Okay, I'll make sure I have at least part of the day off then to come pick you up," her sister went on.

"And Mer?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't say anything to anybody…please. Not even Derek," Lexie added, more as a way of reassuring herself that Mark wouldn't find out before she had the chance to really tell him in person, herself.

"I won't. Your secret is safe with me."

Lexie got off the phone with her sister and went to her bedroom, plugging her phone in on the nightstand before lying on her usual side of the bed. Since moving to Boston, things had been lonely and she missed having someone share the bed with her. Even if she was angry with Mark for getting Callie pregnant, she still loved him and hadn't stopped after she moved. Turning over, she hugged the pillow on what was usually his side of the bed, letting a few tears slip out of the corners of her eyes. Two women were having Mark Sloan's baby at completely different times…relatively close to one another and she knew that it complicated things so much. While Callie was only his friend, that baby was still his child regardless. And her own child, something she hadn't expected or wanted yet in her life, was his too. But there was a part of her, deep down inside, that was already in love with her child regardless of his or her parentage. Even though she was terrified at the prospect of becoming a mother, she knew that she would have to be strong and stay strong for her child. So she drifted off to sleep, holding the pillow and praying that when she did go home to Seattle, she would find the courage to tell him about the baby and how everything made her feel.


	2. Seattle Bound

**A/N: Thank you for all the support by following this story! Let me know what you guys think and review. And as always, I don't own Grey's...but I wish I did sometimes.**

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The next few days were fairly busy for Lexie as she scrubbed in on a few different surgeries, booked her flight to Seattle, and talked to Meredith a few times in between work and trying to function. Morning sickness, which was more like all day sickness for her, kept her running for the restroom and raised suspicions among her colleagues. However, she never divulged about her private life at work and kept it to herself, though she really needed to talk to someone about everything she was going through. And the pathetic thing was that Mark was the person she would usually talk to about this stuff. Lexie just couldn't bring herself to call him and tell him on the phone that she was pregnant with his child. Not after everything they had been through and what she had last told him. He hadn't even known she was leaving until she was gone, which she knew was better in the long run until she found out she was pregnant.

When she got off from her last shift around four in the morning on the 24th of March, she drove directly to the airport since her flight was scheduled to take off at seven that morning. Her stuff was already in the car and she had told Meredith her rough arrival time, which would be early Seattle time since they were three hours apart. When she arrived at the airport, she parked her car and got out, going in and checking her bigger bag before she went through security. Because of her pregnancy, she asked to be pat down instead of going through the body scanner due to not wanting to expose herself to anything unhealthy to her baby. Once she was through, she found her terminal and got a light breakfast, just in case the motion of the plane made her sick.

As they were boarding a while later, Lexie befriended the woman sitting beside her, named Erin, and found they had a bit in common. Both were Harvard graduates, though Erin had gone to law school while Lexie had attended medical school. And both were going to Seattle for similar reasons, which were to talk to someone they loved.

"So…this guy you love…he got another woman pregnant while you were broken up because he had a teenage daughter he just took in…and now you're pregnant with his child that he didn't know about?" Erin asked.

Lexie nodded. "Crazy huh? And I left for Boston to get away from him without knowing I was pregnant. Now I'm having his kid and I told him before that I wasn't ready for children or marriages because I'm still just a resident and he's already got this amazing career that's well established."

"Did you consider your options?"

That was one thing Lexie definitely had done over and over again. Adoption, abortion, and keeping the baby…all three ran through her head again and again because she had to make a decision. And none of the options were going to be easy on her or her conscious. Ultimately, she knew that she couldn't do anything but keep her child because she loved him or her.

"I did…and I even went to a clinic to end my pregnancy, but I just couldn't do it," Lexie admitted, holding in her tears. "As I sat there, I saw all the charts about pregnancy, which I already knew since I'm a doctor, but I just couldn't…do it."

"Do you mind my asking why?" Erin inquired gently.

Biting her lower lip, Lexie looked at her companion. "Because no matter how much I want to hate him and no matter how scared I am about this baby – this is a child we made together. A baby that I love already. And he deserves to know I'm pregnant with his baby because the mother of his first child didn't tell him until she was a teenager."

Erin nodded understandingly and looked at Lexie with sympathy that only someone who knew what it was like to walk in her shoes would give.

"I understand your dilemma," Erin went on. "The man I love is in Seattle and has no idea we have a child together. I kept it from him after a really bad break up and moved to raise the baby closer to where I was raised, alone. Now my daughter is almost a year and my ex recently contacted me and wanted to talk, so I'm flying out to meet him and tell him about her. It's been almost two years and I still love him, though we went through our share of breaking up and getting back together too."

"Wow…" Lexie whispered in awe. "You must really love him to give him another chance after all this time and having not spoken in that long."

"I do, but the question now is going to be if he can forgive me for keeping our daughter from him?" Erin seemed genuinely worried about it, which Lexie understood and could relate to because she didn't know how Mark would react either.

"If he really loves you and wants to move past the bad things that happened, then he could understand your reasons for hiding your daughter away from him," she offered, looking at her newfound friend with encouragement.

"And if your guy loves you the way you described it, then he will fight for you." Erin's words resounded in Lexie's ears and heart.

"Maybe, but Mark and I have broken up twice over the same thing, him having kids with other people and assuming that I would be just fine with it," she sighed, shaking her head. "I just don't want to be pushed aside because his best friend gave him what he wanted first. The look on his face when he told me she was pregnant – he was so happy and I just…couldn't forget that look if I tried. Damn my photographic memory."

No amount of erasing could ever allow Lexie to forget the look on Mark's face when he told her that Callie's baby was his child and that he had seen the heartbeat that day. There had been so much joy there that she knew she couldn't have given him because she wasn't ready to have children. Now she just didn't know how he would feel since he was already deeply involved with his and Callie's baby, having committed to being the father.

"If he's not a complete idiot, he'll forgive you leaving and tell you he loves you and wants you back," Erin confidently told her.

A small, undetectable smile crept across Lexie's lips for the briefest of moments as she thought about Mark. He might have been an ass sometimes, especially in the beginning, but there were other sides to Mark Sloan that she had seen over the last few years. And she hoped that he would be able to move past this and be in their child's life, even if she lived far away and they never resumed any other kind of relationship than co-parenting this child.

"We will see…but first I have to get through telling him I'm pregnant, which isn't going to be easy if you know who this man is," Lexie laughed nervously, holding a book in her hands. Her journal, which she took everywhere with her to keep things written down that she wanted to go back and relive later on. Despite having a photographic memory, she liked reading things about her life as she lived it, from the perspective of the person she was during that time. "He's gorgeous and…just Mark."

Erin snickered. "I'd love to see a picture of the man that's got you so worked up."

A huge rush of embarrassment overtook Lexie as she felt her cheeks turning crimson red with blush. "I uh…I have a picture," she stammered, reaching into her journal and pulling out a photo of her and Mark together, showing it to Erin. "That was us…at Christmas time, when we had just got back together."

Taking the photo, Erin looked it over and clicked her tongue in approval. "He is a fine piece of work," she complimented, handing it back to Lexie. "And you two are good together…you fit."

"Yeah?" Lexie breathed, feeling like someone finally got it. "He's..um quite a bit older than me." The age difference had never really bothered Lexie, but others had turned up their noses when they found out they were dating because they thought Mark was taking advantage of her or she was using him to further her career, which was never the case.

"Age is just a number honey, a constraint put on willing and consenting adults to shame them if they're dating someone so much younger or older than themselves. If you love this guy, then I wouldn't let something like that keep you from being with him. Yes, you have some things you need to work out, but who doesn't? We're all human…we all make mistakes and we all screw up, but at the end of the day we're still the same people we were when we woke up that morning."

The words Lexie heard were all making sense, but she didn't know how she felt about Mark at the present. Her emotions were swirling around and mixing inside of her with all that they had gone through and done to one another. His betrayal of trust by not asking her how she felt about his daughter just moving in and how he had slept with Addison, but judged her for doing the same with Alex while they were broken up, and now the whole thing with Callie…it was a lot for any couple to overcome. But with her and Mark, with the odds so stacked against them already, it was even harder in her mind for them to have any kind of hope right now to get back together.

The rest of the flight, Erin and Lexie spent talking about Erin's daughter and about Lexie's life as a surgeon, which had given her some pretty interesting stories to share over the years. Of course, she never mentioned names or anything confidential, but just some of the situations she had been put in at the hospital, including running through the halls and tripping to fall with blood in her hands, getting it all over herself. Her stories were what made her job so interesting sometimes, aside from the surgeries themselves. Erin also shared her own stories of clients she had dealt with in her practice and interesting court sessions with judges in their district, making Lexie fascinated with the whole process of being a lawyer. By the time they had landed, she and Erin exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch with how their stories continued.

When Lexie got her luggage, Meredith was already waiting for her, waving her over before hugging her sister. Taking a deep breath, she headed out from the airport with her sister and knew that what was going to happen was going to be something that changed her life and Mark's…yet again.


	3. Be Brave, Lexie

**A/N: I really appreciate all the love and support that you guys are giving me! Please _review_ and let me know what you think and how this is going! You are all so wonderful and I truly am grateful for each of you!**

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After a short drive, Lexie looked up at the familiar house where she had spent much of her time living when she was in Seattle. It was where she and Mark had really first started their relationship as a couple and where they would sneak around because she was living in Meredith's attic and Derek told him to stay away from her. And it was a huge part of the memories that she had with him, which hurt her a bit as she got out of the car. But she sucked it up and came in with her things.

"The bedroom at the end of the hall upstairs is open, so it's all yours," Meredith told her, shutting the door behind them as they came in the house.

"Thanks Mer, I really do appreciate all you're doing for me," she said, looking at her big sister. Once upon a time, they hadn't really gotten along because Meredith didn't like the idea of who Lexie was…as the family Thatcher raised when Meredith didn't have a father in her life. But they had grown past that to something closer that Lexie really liked.

"Of course, you're my little sister," the elder Grey smiled. "And um…that little one is my future niece or nephew, regardless of the paternity."

Lexie almost laughed a little and knew that though her sister hadn't always liked Mark and initially wanted him to stay away from Lexie, she actually had supported their relationship when they had been together and tried to make Derek see reason.

"Well, you'll be the favorite aunt…I'm almost positive," Lexie replied, smiling faintly as she looked at her stomach for a moment, thinking about how this changed so many things for her and her family.

"I'll leave you to get settled again, but if you need me…you know where to find me," Meredith went on, giving Lexie some space to get herself settled in the house again since she'd had a long day of work and flying.

Putting her bags down in the bedroom once she got upstairs, Lexie sat on the bed before laying on her back to stare up at the ceiling. Tomorrow she was going up to the hospital to tell Mark about her pregnancy, so she had time to prepare herself tonight with what she would want to say to him. Even though she knew any speeches she prepared would likely go right out the window when she faced him, she knew it made her feel better to have one in mind at least. Moving her hand to her still flat stomach, she thought about her child.

Would he or she have Mark's eyes? Of course, the majority of newborns had blue eyes at birth and it would be several months before she would see his or her true eye color, she still wondered. But a little part of her, deep down inside, hoped that her child would have his eyes because she had fallen so in love with the color and expressiveness of them. There was also a good chance her child could possibly have a photographic memory like hers or an allergy to eggs, but those would probably be things that would appear later on. For now, she knew her baby was about an inch or so long and all of his or her organs were just about formed and that they were moving more frequently now, though Lexie couldn't feel it yet because he or she was too small.

Thinking about the baby, Lexie drifted to sleep and woke up a few hours later, nauseated and feeling like she was going to be sick. Grunting, she got up and went to the bathroom, making it in time to empty the contents of her stomach into the porcelain toilet. This was, by far, the most unpleasant symptom of pregnancy thus far. When the feeling subsided, she rose up from the floor, flushed the toilet, and rinsed out her mouth before looking in the mirror. Her deep brown eyes were tired from working all night and then flying, so she knew she needed more rest later. For now, she was going to try and eat something before all the other house inhabitants came home from the hospital and their shifts.

Lexie found some soup in the kitchen and heated it up before adding some crackers for her dinner, finishing off with some water, figuring that would be the safest option. When she was done, she went upstairs for the night and changed into her pajamas…one of Mark's old t-shirts that she had stolen while they were dating and a pair of pajama bottoms. Curling up on the bed, she fell asleep quickly and didn't wake until her alarm blared on her phone around seven the next morning. She shuffled into the bathroom and turned on the shower before slipping her clothes off and getting in. The hot water was welcome against her skin and tired muscles as she relaxed and washed her hair and body before just standing there, letting the water roll over her back for a while.

"Alright Lexie – pull yourself together and do this because you're a big girl," she scolded herself as she started getting nervous and thought about not doing this. "You're a badass…"

When she was done showering, she made quick in getting dressed before drying and slightly curling her hair. It was almost a quarter past eight by the time she was done, so she grabbed some toast and a granola bar before heading up to the hospital. Meredith had left her the keys to her car since she rode with Derek, so Lexie took it up to Seattle Grace-Mercy West. When she parked, she got out and went in to find Mark.

But a voice from behind her caught her off guard. "Lexipedia…what are you doing back?"

Lexie turned and saw Alex Karev standing in front of her, wearing his scrubs and lab coat. Her ex-boyfriend might have been an ass sometimes, but she knew there was a softer side to him deep down that he didn't show many people.

"I uh…I'm visiting Meredith and thought I'd stop by here," she lied. Maybe it wasn't a complete lie, but not the whole truth either.

"You just…left town without telling us. What gives?" Alex wasn't going to make this easy on her apparently, but she knew that almost everyone who knew about her and Mark could guess the reason why she left by now.

"I just needed to get the hell away from here," she snapped without meaning to, covering her mouth almost immediately in remorse. Her hormones were really getting the better of her now that she was progressing in her pregnancy.

But Alex seemed to understand as he nodded. "Because of the Sloan thing…I get it."

Of all the people who would get wanting to get away from somewhere because it reminded you of the person you loved who betrayed you, it would be Alex.

"Yeah…is he uh…here today?" she asked, fiddling with her hands in front of her nervously.

"Around here somewhere – at least when he isn't glued to his phone texting Torres every five minutes since she's gone on some weekend trip with Robbins."

Lexie frowned. She wanted his undivided attention and if he was on his phone all the time, she wouldn't have that in the least.

"Do you know where he'd be?" she pressed, wanting to find him before she lost her nerve and went back to Meredith's house to sulk and lick her wounds.

"Last I saw, he was heading up to the surgical floor to do a Mandibular Reconstruction about two hours ago or so," Alex replied, drinking some of his coffee.

"Thanks Alex," she said, already going in that direction.

The surgical floor was upstairs, so Lexie walked to the elevators and pushed one of the buttons, hoping that Mark would at least be scrubbing out of surgery by now. But she knew that sometimes complications arose and he could very well still be in surgery. As she got on the elevator, she pushed the button to the surgical floor before it closed and began to take her up, the motion rocking her back and forth and making her feel nauseated for the first time since she woke up. Groaning, she put her hand on her stomach and willed that it stop right that instant since she couldn't really deal with getting sick right now.

When the elevator stopped, she darted off onto the surgical floor and found a trash can in one of the nearest bathrooms before throwing up, cursing her idea to take the elevator instead of the stairs. Going to the sink, she rinsed out her mouth again and put a mint in her mouth to get rid of the smell and taste. She looked in the mirror for a moment and jumped when someone came out of one of the stalls.

"Little Grey…" Bailey said, nodding in her direction. "I thought you were in Boston. Back so soon?"

"Um…just visiting Meredith actually," she replied, giving the same answer she had just given Alex a few minutes ago, since it seemed to be the most plausible.

"I see," Bailey said as she came over and washed her hands, eyeing her suspiciously for a moment. Lexie knew she had probably been busted since Dr. Bailey had a son of her own and would recognize the random darting into the bathroom to throw up. But she didn't say anything…surprisingly. "Your sister is supposed to be scrubbing in this morning on a surgery, so I'd check the board and figure out where she likely is."

Lexie nodded and looked down, right as Bailey's pager was going off. She muttered something about an incoming trauma before heading down. Lexie made her way out of the bathroom and went to the board to see what OR Mark was in, but caught Meredith instead. Her sister looked worried and somewhat scared, which got Lexie worried.

"Mer…what's wrong?" she asked, approaching her sister who was already donning a surgical scrub cap and holding a mask.

"Lexie, I have to go get Mark out of surgery," Meredith explained, confusing Lexie for a moment until she went on. "There's…there's been an accident. Callie…"

Lexie clasped her hand over her mouth. "Oh God…"


	4. How To Save A Life

**A/N: So this chapter is super long! I did take some of the dialogue from the episode "Song Beneath The Song" and changed a bit of it too, so I hope it ties into my story well. Let me know what you think and _review_, as it would totally make my day to know what my viewers think!**

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Lexie felt like she was going to be sick as she thought about what was happening. Callie had been in some sort of accident and they were bringing her to the hospital and she had no idea how serious it was or what was going on. But she bolted down the hall and down to the residents' locker room to find an extra pair of scrubs to change into. Even if she wasn't working here anymore, she was still a doctor and could try and find something to do to help. And she knew that since it was Callie, they would need all the help they could get because she was also pregnant.

When she was dressed, she made her way downstairs to where they were all already gathering at the emergency bay to wait on the ambulance. She threw on the trauma gown and put her gloves on after pulling her hair up to prepare for what was about to happen. When she saw Mark come running out, demanding to be involved, her heart broke for him because she knew how important Callie was to him…and the baby she was carrying was his too. Chief Webber calmed him down and told him that he could be in the room, but he couldn't treat her because she was family, which he seemed to accept after a moment. He didn't notice her there, but she didn't blame him since his focus was on Callie right now.

The ambulance arrived and everyone immediately went to work assessing Callie's situation and figuring out what was going to happen.

"We got you Torres," Hunt told her, looking down at Callie on the stretcher.

Lexie was at the other side, pushing her into the trauma center. Everyone immediately began to asses her injuries and people shouted over one another while they tried to figure out the best course of treatment for Callie. Mark and Arizona were to the side, shouting about the fetal heartbeat, but everyone was so busy that Dr. Fields couldn't get one until they had to stop for a moment, finding it almost immediately once they quieted down.

Her injuries were extensive and they immediately booked an operating room to start to try and repair the damage, so she was rushed into the elevator and Lexie took the stairs up to the operating floor, ignoring the fact that Mark was still there. She scrubbed in and went to sit near Callie's head, assisting Derek through what would be his surgery to fix the bleeders in Callie's brain. Everyone was tense and scared, but she noticed that Callie's eyes were still moving.

"Wait…wait wait…stop her anesthesia is too late!" she shouted, looking up.

"Oh I can fix that," the anesthesiologist said, moving to up the dosage.

"Oh my God," Bailey said, glancing over as everyone started talking again.

"People!" Owen shouted. "Alright, take a breath. Everybody, I mean it. Stop what you're doing and every one of you take a breath and center yourself. There is no room for rushing here. You rush and we make mistakes. Now everybody, take a breath."

Just like that, the tension in the room diffused a little bit; enough for everyone to breathe and focus on what they were doing.

Lexie took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment and looked down at Callie. "Just breathe…Callie relax, we've got this," she told her gently. "It's under control. Just breathe."

The surgeries began and Lexie kept her post beside Callie's face, just as scared and worried as anyone else was in the room. Callie might have slept with Mark and been pregnant with his child, but it didn't mean that Lexie hated her or wished her ill. In fact, she was pulling for her to make it through all of this.

"Someone needs to keep an eye on Mark," Derek said as he glanced up and saw Arizona in the gallery.

"Little Grey," Chief Webber called as Lexie stood up from her seat. "Eyes on Sloan."

Lexie nodded and stepped out of the OR, pulling off her surgical mask and prepared herself to face the man she loved, who was in pain and likely frightened. She threw away her mask and took one last look in the operating room before heading out, running into a scrub nurse on her way out.

"Did Dr. Sloan come by here?" she asked the nurse as she headed in the direction she was pointed.

Walking as quickly as she could, Lexie pulled off her scrub cap and threw it somewhere before going into the main area of the hospital, looking everywhere she could think of to find Mark. There were people walking around and it was hard to see, but she knew that he would have gone somewhere private. She went up the stairs and down the hall again, trying to think of where he would go. But when she walked past a door to one of the side stairwells, she caught sight of him sitting there alone, distraught and concerned.

She stepped in and saw him look up, tears in his eyes as he seemed surprised to see her. It had been over a month since they last saw one another and she hadn't exactly told him goodbye when she moved to Boston.

"You don't have to do this, I know you hate me," he said, looking at her.

Lexie shook her head. "I don't hate you," she admitted.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she came over and sat next to him, putting her hand on his back to comfort him. This was about the only thing she could do at this point since the surgeons that were working on Callie were all doing their best.

"She's my best friend," he choked out. "She's my best friend."

Without hesitation, Lexie reached over and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. Mark needed her to be his comfort right now, so her issues took a backseat to this for the time being. Her heart broke for him because she knew what it was like to watch your best friend go through something awful. George…he had been hit by a bus and no one knew who he was. Not until he wrote in Meredith's hand and then he just…died in surgery. Now Mark was facing losing his friend too, so she wanted to be here for him.

When the first surgery was over, Mark was paged to go down and talk with Dr. Bailey after the attendings had met and Addison Montgomery had been flown in to try and keep the baby alive, so Lexie went down to one of the locker rooms and tried to breathe, focusing herself. She splashed some cold water on her face and looked in the mirror as Jackson came in the room behind her.

"We have a plan?" she asked, feeling knots in her stomach as she fought back another bout of nausea that hit her, dabbing her face with a towel before turning around to face him. Jackson was a kind person and someone that she had befriended while in Seattle when the merger happened.

"Torres goes back to the OR tomorrow," he explained. "Now the big question is whether or not to deliver the baby first. They're waiting for Robbins and Sloan to decide."

The baby was only twenty-three weeks along and Lexie knew the chances for survival were very minimal for a baby that premature. Facts and numbers ran through her head as she thought of all the medical journals she had read about premature delivery and the risks it posed to the baby.

"How's M – how…how are they doing?" she stammered, looking up at Jackson.

"You mean Sloan?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking at her as she nodded. "I think he's okay."

"Thank you…Jackson," she said, biting her bottom lip before coughing slightly, trying to push down her nausea again as it reared its ugly head.

"Sure…it's uh…it's good to see you, Lexie," he added. "I didn't know you were leaving until Meredith said you were gone."

"I know…I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was just…"

"I get it," Jackson replied, not making her go into any explanation that she didn't want to go into.

A sigh of relief left her chest as she nodded. "Thanks," she said, giving him a hug. "I'm gonna go try…get some rest here. In case something happens and they need extra hands."

Jackson let her go and Lexie found her way down the hall again, going toward one of the break room to find something she could eat. On her way there, she ran into Mark, who looked fairly distraught again. She assumed it was from the meeting he had to discuss what options Callie had, so she didn't want to say anything, but he approached her. They hadn't really talked except for that moment in the stairwell, so she knew he was probably wondering why she was even here to begin with since she had moved without telling him.

"Lex…you're really here," he breathed as he got to her.

She nodded and went in the break room, letting him follow her in. "I was…visiting Meredith and came up here to see Derek when I found out about Callie…" she explained, knowing it was the only story that would make sense without telling her own secret. Mark didn't need that added stress right now. "How…how is she?"

"Her heart…the cardiovascular system is severely damaged…compromised," he said, sitting down on the couch, looking up at her like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. "The baby is stressing her body, but it's too soon to deliver. And if we don't deliver, then Callie might die. I yelled at Robbins…"

"It…it's a stressful situation for both of you," she offered, coming over to sit beside him. "You both care about Callie and the baby, but you feel like it's all or nothing both ways. I…I don't know what to say to make it better or how to make you feel better because the situation is not good, but I'm here. And I'll sit with you as long as you want me to; all night if I have to. But you should rest while you can and while Callie is stable…for her surgery tomorrow."

"Why did you leave, Lex?" he asked, taking her by surprise as she looked at him.

"Mark…I think it's better that we don't talk about that right now," she replied, knowing it wasn't a topic she wanted to breach with him while he was in this emotional state. "Why don't you get some rest and I'll rub your back?"

In his exhaustion, Mark didn't argue with her thankfully, but instead, laid in her lap while she rubbed his back and through his hair. She thought of how much younger he looked when he was sleeping because the worries weren't there like they were when he was awake and it reminded her of all the mornings that she woke up in his arms, which hit her like a ton of bricks as tears sprang to her eyes. Wiping them away and ignoring the pain that came with the memories, she kept on rubbing his back and shoulder while he slept, knowing he needed the rest.

The next day came and Mark disappeared to check on Callie again, leaving Lexie to sleep for a few hours before she went to check on things herself. As she made it to the ICU, they were rushing Callie up to the operating room because her pressure had bottomed out, so Lexie threw her hair up and joined the crowd, rushing in and scrubbing in stand behind the other surgeons for any assistance needed, standing with April. During the course of the surgery, Callie's stats started to fall and she began to flat-line and they were forced to try to get her heart restarted, pushing Dr. Montgomery to deliver the baby prematurely. The operating room was tense as everyone held their breath while Dr. Webber, Dr. Yang, and Dr. Bailey tried to get her heart going again and when they heard the monitor beep to life again, a sigh of relief came from Lexie. The baby was on the other side of the room while Arizona worked on her…a tiny baby girl. Within minutes, there was a sigh of relief on the other side of the room as Arizona announced they had a heartbeat. Lexie felt tears of her own welling in her eyes, but brushed them away before someone could notice.

The doctors began finishing up and closed Callie up as they now just had to wait on her body to heal itself. Lexie scrubbed out of the surgery and found herself wandering the halls until she found a resident break room, slipping inside before collapsing onto a couch, pulling up her knees to her chest as she began to cry. Part of this was her hormones and another part of it was the fact that she knew she couldn't tell Mark now. He was a father now and had so much to worry about with his daughter being born seventeen weeks premature and Callie now facing weeks to months of recovery because of her injuries, so she couldn't just add this to his plate. Not now.

Falling asleep in the residents' break room, Lexie woke a few hours later to Meredith standing over her. Confused and slightly disoriented, she sat up and ran her hand through her hair, which was slightly tangled now and messy from being up and down over the last two days.

"Hey," Meredith said quickly, sitting down and offering her some tea. "You doing alright?"

Lexie shook her head. "I came here yesterday morning to tell Mark that I was pregnant…and then this happens. A few weeks ago, I was so pissed that he had gotten Callie pregnant and so angry with him for making that decision to just sleep with her that I…I just walked out. And now this happens. I mean, what kind of messed up universe do we live in that this kind of thing happens? Even if I was so angry, I never wished anything bad on Callie…ever."

She could feel the tears in her eyes again, knowing a lot of this was guilt and hormones mixed together, which were never a fun combination for a pregnant woman.

"I know you didn't," her sister offered, rubbing her back gently. "Really messed up things happen to good people and there is little we can do to prevent them from happening. Derek got shot, I almost drowned and got blown up…Derek and I can't get pregnant. But this is not your fault, Lexie. And if you need to take time away before you tell Mark…let things settle down, then that is okay too."

A small sigh of relief came from Lexie as she nodded and was thankful her sister at least could understand where she was coming from.

"I'm going to go back to Boston…I have to work and Mark needs time to deal with all of this," she decided, standing up and straightening the blue scrubs she was wearing. "The next time I'll be able to come out and talk to him…I'll be bigger. So I'll have to tell him the truth then. Until then, I just have to keep on going and handle with this myself until he's at a place where he can deal with more than just a premature baby and his best friend in the hospital."

"Keep me informed?" Meredith asked as she stood up.

Lexie nodded. "I'll send you ultrasound pictures and everything. Promise."

Her older sister smiled. "Good…and if worse comes to worse, I'll fly to you when the baby is born and be there. That way you don't have to do it alone."

For a brief moment, Lexie realized how far she and Meredith had come in the last few years of their relationship and was so thankful for that, even though she knew that they still had a ways to go before they would ever be completely good with each other. But she hoped that this would bring them closer together as sisters in the coming days since she would need all the support she could get.


	5. Brotherly Advice

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the positive feedback! I know this story is gonna get a little painful for a bit, but bear with me as it will all be worth it in the end! (I say this and will keep my word...unlike some people who shall remain nameless *cough*Shonda*cough*) _Review_ and let me know what you think!  
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The next day, while Lexie was packing her bag to head home, it took all of her strength to not break down and cry. Her heart was heavy as she knew that leaving for Boston again without telling Mark made her feel like a coward, but she also realized that he had a family now; A family that needed him to be focused on getting Callie better and Sofia, his daughter, out of the NICU. And to let him do that, Lexie needed to let him be completely dedicated to them for a while without her interference. Her own focus would be on working in Boston and continuing her pregnancy as she prepared for motherhood, with Meredith's support and help via the phone and Skype. Even though it wasn't the most ideal of situations, she knew it would have to work for now.

Putting the last of her things in the suitcase, she zipped it up and sighed, sitting down on the bed while she waited for Meredith to get home to take her to the airport. Her flight was going to be around noon, meaning she'd get home later that night in Boston, but it was the only one available.

"Lexie?" a voice called from the hallway, one she recognized as her brother-in-law's.

"In here," she called, knowing he would come in once she gave him the okay.

Derek came in the room and stood against the door frame. "Hey…leaving so soon?" he asked.

She nodded. "I have to get back to work…I only had the weekend off to come out," she replied, shaking her head.

"It was definitely one…crazy weekend," Derek went on, coming over and sitting down.

"I um…I want you to do something for me," she hesitantly said, looking at him. "Take care of Mark while I'm not here. He's going to need someone to look after him now that Callie's made it through the surgeries…and the baby is here. He'll throw himself into caring for them so much he'll forget to care for himself."

"I will," Derek promised, reaching over and rubbing Lexie's back. "And you take care of yourself too, out in Boston. Don't let them run you over too much there…be the badass I know you are."

For a moment, Lexie had to laugh. Derek always knew how to make her smile when she needed it the most. He had been the big brother she always dreamed of having and she felt lucky that Meredith had married him, even if it was a post-it note wedding. When she first arrived in Seattle, Derek had been the first person she ever met from the hospital, ironically in the bar same where he and Meredith met. Apparently it was a Grey thing to meet guys in bars.

"I'll try…I had a pretty good teacher here, so I think I'll be alright," she said, nodding to him with a small smile. "I'm actually more advanced than most in my peer group…"

"Not a surprise there," Derek chuckled. "You're Little Grey…that photographic memory of yours is legendary."

"Except when the computer freezes, or so Alex says," she contradicted with another laugh. "It's been known to happen."

The laughter died down after a moment and the seriousness returned between them as she knew that she had to confide in Derek because she had already done so with Meredith. And she knew her sister wasn't good at keeping secrets from Derek anyway, so it was better if he heard it from her instead of Meredith accidentally letting a photo of her sonograms slip or he overheard a conversation with them on the phone or Skype.

"Derek, I need you to be my big brother for a few minutes, okay?" she asked, looking up at him seriously, feeling her nerves already working themselves up in her stomach.

"Sure…what's on your mind?" he inquired.

"What I'm going to tell you is something you can't tell Mark, no matter what," she warned, knowing Derek was also his best friend too. "Promise me?"

"I promise," he vowed.

Once she had his word, she knew that Derek wouldn't go back on it unless the situation was dangerous or otherwise necessary, so she felt safe telling him her own secret.

"I…I'm pregnant," she finally blurted out, feeling as though she had just told the entire world at once, though it was just her brother-in-law.

Derek looked stunned for a moment as he processed what that meant before he could form words again, the realization settling in on his face of what she meant by that. And who the father was because of the promise she had just made him swear to.

"It's Mark's, isn't it?" he asked.

All Lexie could do was nod for a moment while she tried to think of a way to explain herself and everything she was feeling right now. While Derek would keep her secret for her, she wondered what he thought of her not telling Mark and how this would affect his friendship with him because he knew the truth while Mark was kept in the dark about it for the time being.

"I originally came out here to tell him this weekend…but then the accident and everything got so crazy and messed up, so I couldn't," she admitted, feeling some tears in the corners of her eyes as she thought about how the whole situation wasn't fair to any of them. "He didn't need that added to his plate on top of trying to take care of Callie and the baby, since both of them are going to be in the hospital for a while."

"Are you going to tell him at some point?" Derek asked softly.

"Once things settle down a little bit and he's had time to deal with this situation first, yes," she answered. "I don't know when that will be or how long it'll take, but I do want him to know because I wouldn't shut him out like this on purpose. Not after what Sloane's mom did to him. I didn't even know I was pregnant until I was already moved and settled in Boston…but I took about four pregnancy tests and had all the blood work done. And an ultrasound just before I came here. I'm about ten weeks in and due in October."

The look on Derek's face wore off from the shock to understanding as he nodded. "I won't tell him, but I think you definitely should…sooner rather than later, once things settle down and he's able to focus and function beyond damage repair with Callie and Sofia."

"I plan to," she assured Derek, holding her hands in her lap. "He just needs time…to heal with this situation first before I tell him that he's going to be a father…again."

Derek nodded. "Well you always have us to lean on if you need anything," he promised. "You're family and that means we're here for each other. So, if you need anything or someone to talk to, you know Meredith and I will both be here."

A small smile crept across her lips for a brief moment at how good that sounded. A family. When Lexie first came to Seattle, she had no one and nothing, but now she had her sister and brother-in-law, who cared for her and wanted to help her through this. And she felt incredibly lucky because she knew she would need the support once the baby was actually here, regardless of if she was in Boston or not.

"Thank you Derek, it means a lot to me…to have you and Meredith both there," she said sincerely. "I know Mer didn't like me a lot when we first met, but I really feel a lot closer to her now than I ever did before."

"Well you guys are sisters…and you have a lot more in common than you think," he agreed, smiling before giving her a hug. "I'll let you get finished up here since Meredith should be back any minute to take you to the airport."

With that, Derek stepped out of the room and left Lexie to gather her things as she heard her sister pull up in the driveway a few minutes later. She knew that going back to Boston was something she had to do since she worked there now, but it didn't make leaving any easier for her especially since she didn't get to do what she originally intended to do. But she also knew that circumstances had changed and she had to roll with the punches until she could figure out a better time and place to tell Mark the truth.

Lexie went downstairs and brought her things with her, going out as Meredith got out to unlock the trunk of the car. She put in her suitcase and shut it before going around to the passenger side to get in, putting her carry-on bag and purse on the floorboard. Buckling up her seat belt, she looked over at her sister with a heavy heart, knowing that she was leaving Seattle again for possibly a few months, if not a long time since she didn't know if she would make it back before the baby was born. But that was a bridge that she would have to cross if and when the time came. For now, she was going to get back to Boston and work as much as she could to distract herself from wanting to just blurt everything out to Mark and tell him the truth about their child when he had so much else to attend to right now.

As Meredith dropped her off at the airport, she hugged her sister once before getting out and going in. Security didn't take as long as she thought, so she had time to grab a quick lunch before boarding her plane back to Boston. The trip back seemed so much longer than the first trip, but Lexie slept a good deal of the way home, curling up in her set as best she could with her seat belt on. She woke when they were just about to land and grabbed her carry-on bag before getting off to go claim her luggage at the carousel before going out to find her car, paying the parking for it before driving back to her apartment. It was nearly midnight when she got there, but she texted Meredith that she was home safe before collapsing on her bed and curling up with her pillow. She had to be up in five hours for rounds at six, but she knew that having some sleep was better than none, so she closed her eyes and drifted into a fitful sleep, dreaming about car accidents, Mark, and their own child.


	6. Life Moves On

**A/N: Thank you so so much for all the positive feedback again! I couldn't do this without any of you! A special shout out to bjq, LexieMcSteamy, and scarlet red valvet who have been so much support during this story so far! _Review_ and enjoy the next installment!**

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A few weeks later, Lexie had been working hard on getting into surgeries, keeping up with her own apartment, and going into the second trimester of her pregnancy. The nausea had subsided some, for the most part, and she was grateful for that since it made being in longer surgeries easier than it initially had in the beginning. Because of her slight frame, it was also becoming very apparent to her co-workers that she was pregnant, but she refused to speak about it with anyone but her doctor. She was just shy of fifteen weeks and it felt like she had gained about fifty pounds, even though it was only closer to five or so in actuality.

Lexie had also been keeping in touch with her sister and brother-in-law in Seattle about what was going on there. So far, Callie was on the road to recovery while Sofia was making gains in the NICU under careful care and love, having bumped up to over two pounds now. And from Meredith's reports, Mark was as proud a father as he could be while he and Arizona traded off caring for Callie, Sofia, and working their own case load. Lexie tried not to be jealous when her sister talked about it, but with her hormones going off the wall now – she really could not help it. He was so happy out there with his and Callie's baby, but she was here and pregnant and alone.

_But you chose this,_ she reminded herself as she closed the chart she was working on finishing.

"Dr. Grey, there's a patient in trauma room four that needs a central line. Would you show me how to do one?" a voice asked, bringing her from her persistent thoughts about Mark Sloan and his new family in Seattle.

A mousy girl with dirty blonde locks and kind blue eyes stood in the doorway, one of her interns named Melissa, with a chart in her hands. While she was eager to learn and Lexie appreciated that, sometimes she really knew how to grate on Lexie's nerves. But she blamed a lot of that on her hormones.

"Go get set up for the procedure, Dr. Ross, and be quick," she instructed firmly. "I'll be there in one minute."

The intern skidded out of the room and Lexie put the chart down before going down to the trauma center herself. Putting on a gown, she approached the bed of the patient. Checking the chart for details, she pulled on her gloves.

"Hi Miss James, I'm Dr. Grey and this is Dr. Ross," she said, nodding to Melissa across the bed. "We're going to put in a central line and then take you up for some more tests to see what the problem is. Don't you worry about a thing. Just relax."

The woman nodded and Lexie began the procedure, showing Melissa how to follow the steps carefully. Her memories of how little Cristina taught herself and her fellow interns during their first year was her constant reminder to be kind and patient with her own interns and actually teach them things rather than abuse her powers as a resident. Melissa was a really quick learner though, which Lexie really appreciated and was proud of because she could actually teach her procedures and Melissa would try it on the next go without missing a beat. It was easy to teach when you had a student that was willing to learn and try it on their own. When they were done, the patient was sent up for a CT scan with Melissa while Lexie went to the residents' break room to grab her snack. Her phone was bussing as she came in and she looked down to see her sister calling.

"Hey Mer," she greeted as she sat down on the couch with her grapes in her lap.

"Hey," her sister repeated from the other end of the line. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good – just taking a break and eating some grapes. What about you?" Lexie popped a green grape in her mouth, savoring the sour taste.

"Good, just scrubbed out on a surgery with Bailey and going to prepare for another in about an hour." Meredith was doing a lot of surgeries this time around since she was going into her fifth year soon, which Lexie was jealous of since she was only going into her fourth in the coming months.

"Sounds like fun," Lexie laughed, knowing surgeries were like a drug to surgeons…you just could never get enough of the adrenaline rush of cutting someone open. "Did you get the last ultrasound photo I sent you?"

"I did," Meredith said happily. "My little niece or nephew looks so handsome…and much bigger than the first ultrasound you sent."

A little grin of pride came to Lexie's lips as she moved her hand down to her stomach, which was now slightly swollen where her child was growing. Though this baby was by no means planned, she did love him or her dearly.

"Everything is going good so far and the doctor said that all the baby's growth is normal," she went on, thinking through the details she had been given at her last appointment. "The next one will be the big day though, we find out boy or girl. And this baby is already making me gain more weight than I ever have at one time in my whole life."

"That is great Lexie," her sister laughed. "That's how it's supposed to be."

"I already look way pregnant though," she sighed, scrunching her nose before looking down again. "Everyone here pretty much knows or has guessed as much, but they mind their own business thankfully."

Everyone at Seattle Grace – Mercy West knew everyone else's business, just about. That was just something you had to deal with when you worked there because it was like one bigger, adult-version of high school. There were cliques and factions that formed from people not liking each other or ganging up on one another, which made Lexie wonder if anyone ever really grew up. But here, at Mass General, Lexie felt like she could keep her private life exactly that…private.

"That's good though."

There was a lull for a moment while Lexie debated with herself whether she should ask her next question. It was something she had been thinking about all day and she really hadn't talked much to Derek in the last two or so weeks, so it was gnawing at her.

"How…how is everything there?" she asked innocently, deciding that would be the best way to breach the topic without directly asking what she wanted to ask.

"You mean Mark?" Meredith retorted bluntly, making Lexie's face flush a brilliant shade of red she was sure matched the couch she was currently sitting on. Even though her sister couldn't see this, she probably would know just by knowing Lexie that she was blushing.

"Uh…yeah" she managed to say after a moment to bring herself back to reality.

"He's doing good but he rarely ever leaves the hospital between staying in the NICU with Sofia and checking in on Torres," Meredith answered.

Lexie knew that he wouldn't leave either one while they were in the hospital. If there was one thing she knew about Mark Sloan, it was that when he was dedicated to something or someone, he was all in it for good. And if something she did love him for, even if it hurt her sometimes, like it did with Sloane and again when Callie got pregnant. It was also why she knew she couldn't tell him about their baby yet because he would be torn by what the right thing to do would be since Callie and Sofia were still so vulnerable in their recoveries.

"What's the prognosis for them?" Lexie was curious as to what was happening with their recoveries exactly and what the doctors had predicted for them now that they were out of the most dangerous parts of the woods.

"So far, it's a matter of letting them both heal and get stronger after the trauma both of them received. Callie is in physical therapy and the baby is doing well and stable in the NICU while Dr. Stark cares for her and Mark and Arizona watch her like a hawk."

"That's…that's really good news, all things considering and how bad things were in the beginning," she offered, knowing it was all she could really do from across the country.

"So…how is Boston?" Meredith asked, changing the topic a bit.

If there was one thing she was thankful for in her sister, it was sensing awkward situations and changing them.

"It's good…just starting to warm up now since it's nearing the end of Spring," she replied easily, breathing a little easier since they weren't on the topic that was touchy for both of them. "I did get to scrub in on a transplant yesterday."

"Oh yeah…what kind?" Meredith seemed suddenly engrossed in asking about her surgery, which made Lexie smile. They did have a lot more in common than they initially thought and she was thankful for that.

"Lung transplant," she explained, sitting up a little to revel in the details herself. "Donor was in a motorcycle accident and the family wanted his organs donated, so they went to my patient, a fifteen year old kid with Cystic Fibrosis that's been waiting for five years for a donor to match. After the transplant, there was a moment when we thought the organs weren't going to pink up, but they did and it was so beautiful, Mer!"

Her older sister chuckled on the other end of the phone. "That's wonderful Lexie," she praised. "Have you thought of a specialty that you want to go into since you're getting close to your fourth year?"

"Neuro, but the head of the Neuro department here is no Derek Shepherd," she quickly replied, snickering to herself as she thought of what a good teacher her brother actually was. "Don't tell him I said that."

"Oh I won't, his ego doesn't need to get any bigger. We both know that," Meredith giggled. "But I think you'd be good in Neuro."

"Yeah?" Lexie couldn't believe her sister would say something so kind, but their relationship had been improving a lot in the last year or so. More than it had initially in the beginning, when Lexie was just an intern and Meredith wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

"Yeah, even Derek said you showed a lot of promise in Neuro. And you know he doesn't give out compliments to just everyone, even family."

Lexie smiled and put the lid on her grapes before setting them aside, feeling like she had just been given the best news possible today that made her day so much better. If Derek Shepherd, the leading Neurosurgeon in the country, said she had promise…then she could definitely believe it. And she wanted to pursue that in the future, given the opportunity to do so. A lot of people believed she was going to be 'Mommy-tracked' because she was pregnant, or so that was the rumor, but she wouldn't let it happen. She would be an amazing mom and kickass surgeon.

After ending her call with her sister, Lexie went out to find her interns and got the test results back on Miss James. But her day was made when she found a tumor the size of a golf ball on the CT scan as she ran off to find Dr. Warren, the head of Neuro at Mass General. If she was right, this tumor would be one hell of a thing to take out and she wanted in on that surgery.


	7. Man to Man

**A/N: Here is the next installment of my story! Hope you all are enjoying this journey that we're on and don't fret, there is hope on the horizon! Please _review_ and let me know what you think. A writer always loves hearing feedback from her viewers!**

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Two months had come and gone since Mark had last seen Lexie. Exactly eight weeks today. And in those two months, he had become a father again and stood by his best friend's side while she was recovering. Both Callie and Sofia had been through considerable setbacks with many complications, but he knew that they were both tough Torres women that would make it through. Plus Sofia had the Sloan side in her as well, making her twice as tough and probably twice as mean. Sofia was a fighter though, pulling through a lot when people thought she wouldn't make it after being delivered at twenty-three weeks gestation and only weighing one pound, one ounce at birth. But he and Robbins were the champion team for both Callie and Sofia.

His daughter was beautiful though, with jet black hair like Callie's and delicate little fingers. She also had his nose, which he could see developing more as she got bigger, only making him more proud of the baby that he had helped bring into the world. Though he had wished this happened differently on many levels, Sofia really was the most amazing thing to happen to him as a father.

While he sat with her after one of his surgeries, he looked up to see they had an unexpected visitor.

"Hey Sofia, look who it is," he murmured softly to his daughter. "It's your Uncle Derek."

His best friend smiled and took a seat next to him by the incubator. Derek had been someone he could count on during these hard weeks, but he was thankful for him, no matter the drama that had been between them in the past.

"How's she holding up?" Derek asked genuinely, peeking in on the tiny baby in the incubator.

"Good. Strong like all the Sloans. They weighed her today and she's over three pounds now, so she's getting there slowly," he replied, smiling proudly at his daughter before looking at his friend. "What brings you by? I thought you were in surgery all afternoon."

"Delay due to complications with the patient," Derek sighed, shaking his head. "He failed to fill out on his medical form that he has anemia, meaning he would bleed out all over my table if I were to cut into him. We have to figure out another route."

Mark nodded, knowing how that could be irritating and aggravating to a surgeon, especially when patients left out crucial information that they needed to know. He had operated on a patient during his residency that failed to inform the surgeons that he had swallowed several sharp objects, which lead to a perforated stomach that they had to immediately repair by emergency. It was one reason Mark avoided general surgery at all costs when he picked his specialty.

"That's a shame, sorry about that," he apologized sincerely, nudging Derek's shoulder with his fist slightly. "So how is the dream house coming along?"

Derek nodded. "It's getting there…but it's going to take time with everything else going on. You know how it is."

Derek had been working on that house for years now and Mark was glad to see it finally getting done since he and Meredith were trying to start a family from the last he'd heard. Though he hadn't been in that loop much as of late, he was hoping for the best for them since he knew how good a dad that Derek would be someday. His best friend had always been there for him, even when they weren't on speaking terms, so he knew that Derek would be good to his kids as they grew up since he had grown up without his dad after he was shot.

"Well when the dream house is done, I demand a tour," Mark chuckled, looking back at Sofia in her incubator. "Who knows, I may look into buying some land for the hell of it and build a house next door."

Though Mark was partially joking, he had considered building his own house a time or two…but that was when he and Lexie were together and things were really good between them. Now he wasn't so sure about anything other than the fact that he was a father and he had a lot of things to do to be responsible enough to be one.

"Well if you do, put a privacy fence up so none of us have to see any of your shenanigans," Derek joked, nudging Mark in the side. "I don't want my future children scarred by their Uncle Mark."

A deep laugh bellowed from Mark's chest as he shook his head and nodded in agreement, knowing he had nothing to hide since everyone knew the truth about Mark Sloan and his infamous barrage of women that he jumped to and from. But lately, it hadn't been that way. Since finding out about Sofia coming, he'd straightened up his act and really put forth effort to be a better person, all for the same reason that he wanted to be a better man for the woman he loved. He wanted something permanent in his life…but things just hadn't worked out with Lexie the way he had hoped. And he knew he was partially to blame for that.

"So…have you heard from Little Grey?" he tentatively asked, looking at Derek. He didn't know if he should broach that topic with his best friend, since that was his little sister now, but he couldn't help but wonder and worry about her.

Derek bobbed his head in reply. "We speak to her fairly often since she and Meredith are on great terms right now."

A slight twinge filled Mark's chest as he thought about her, knowing how badly he had hurt her. "And…how is she doing?"

"She's doing good. Keeping up with everything and kicking some surgical ass since she seems to be ahead of the curve there already," Derek replied, smiling warmly as he spoke of his sister-in-law.

His reply filled Mark with pride. Lexie was always gifted and smart, so it didn't surprise him that she was ahead. But it also pained him because he knew that he was the reason she had left in the first place. And that fault fell on his shoulders for doing something stupid and ruining what they had between them. More than anything, he did regret that he wasn't honest about sleeping with Callie right when he and Lexie got back together so her pregnancy might not have been such a shock to her. To some level, he knew that the mistake he and Callie made had cost them both something great, but Callie had gained Arizona back while Lexie had just left, though he didn't blame her for it.

"Doesn't surprise me though, at all. Lexie is smart and gifted," he mused, looking down at his hands in his lap after a moment.

"She has a lot of potential to be a great surgeon," Derek said, nodding. "And she's got a lot going for her. Photographic memory, nimble hands, and a drive to learn and be taught."

A flash of a smile came to Mark's lips as he thought about the night Lexie showed up and demanded that he teach her. It was what really started who they became…in one moment of irresponsibility and disregard to his promise, he started to fall in love with the most amazing and wonderful woman he had ever known, only to lose her because they had made some serious mistakes along the way. Hindsight was always 20/20 is what they said and Mark now knew how true that was. If he could go back and redo everything, he would have included Lexie in the decisions regarding Sloane and guarded his relationship while still trying to be a good father to his oldest daughter. But he had made some serious mistakes and lost the love of his life not once, but twice. The wound from that was still sliced wide open as he thought about her all the time now.

"Do you think she'd ever come back to Seattle?" he asked, giving away the faintest of hope in his voice.

Derek shook his head. "I don't know. It would probably take a lot to bring her back because she seems happy in Boston, for now. But, you never know what can happen. We both know I never thought I'd end up in Seattle and here I am."

"That…was kind of my fault too," he admitted, knowing he had done Derek wrong in the past.

"We've all made mistakes Mark, so none of us are perfect by any means," Derek told him, patting his shoulder. "It's how we deal with those mistakes and how we move forward that counts."

"When did you suddenly become so wise?" he teased.

"Years of experience with stupidity of my own, followed by sobering years of reality hitting me over the head," Derek replied, flashing him a smile.

For all the faults in their friendship over the years, Mark never had a truer friend than Derek and he counted him as the closest thing he had to family before Sloane came crashing into his life and then Sofia was born. But if ever he had a choice in family, he'd have always picked Derek as his brother. And even during their falling out, he had wanted to make things right and always had because he knew that he had been wrong. The Mark Sloan of now was a more mature version of the man he'd always been too scared to be; A man that was worthy of Mrs. Shepherd's raising.

After Derek left when he got a page, Mark was left to his thoughts as he held vigil by Sofia's incubator, just as he had done every single day for the past eight weeks. He had done so many wrong things in the last few years and screwed up in so many ways, but he wanted to start doing things right. And to start, he was doing right by his kid. Sofia would always know her father and be raised by him instead of feeling alone like he had when he was growing up in New York. Though his parents had been wealthy, he never had much interaction with them and still didn't to this day as a doctor because he hadn't taken up the family business of becoming a lawyer. Mark discovered he loved science and ran with it after taking his MCAT's and passing with flying colors, so he would never fault his kid for doing something that they loved.

His thoughts also turned to Lexie again, which they often did these days because he missed her. He missed her smile, her beautiful brown eyes that seemed to light up when she was in a good mood or mastered a surgical technique, and the way her nose crinkled when she was thinking about something really hard or laughing. And her laugh…he missed that so much. Though Mark knew that she was happier where she was now, he couldn't help but wonder if she could ever forgive him for getting Callie pregnant and possibly come home. Because without her, he was half the man he ever wanted to be. She had changed him and made him better. And deep down, he knew that she was the only one that he really wanted to spend his life with, if she could ever move past the wrongs that he had put her through.


	8. Beautiful

**A/N: You guys are so _seriously_ awesome! Thank you so much for all the feedback and please keep it coming! This chapter is dedicated to my friend Britt, who is like the other half of my Slexie fangirl heart. _Review_ and enjoy the next chapter!**

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The weeks had seemingly flown by in the last month. Lexie was now just over eighteen weeks pregnant and was definitely showing under her scrubs now. And within the last week or so, she had begun feeling her baby fluttering around in her stomach, which was both the most amazing and terrifying feeling at the same time. Her mood swings had also picked up, much to the chagrin of her interns since they were at the mercy of her moods all the time, especially when she was having one of those days where everyone suddenly was irritating to her all the time. So most of them tried to stay on her good side and please her when they knew she was in one of her really bad moods.

Today, however, was a good day as she was going up to the OB floor for an ultrasound and to possibly find out the gender of her baby. Her charting was done as she gave her interns their marching orders and went to the elevators to go up to her appointment. When she got off on the maternity floor, she took a left and went into the office to check in. Taking a seat in the waiting room, she waited until she was called back and got comfortable on the exam table while waiting for her doctor.

"Good morning Lexie," her doctor greeted as she came in the room and shut the door behind her.

"Hi Dr. Greene," she replied, smiling.

"So how are you feeling today?" Dr. Greene asked, taking down some notes on Lexie's chart.

"Pretty good actually," she said, sliding her hand along her bump. "Except for the terrible mood swings that make everyone scared of me as their resident, interns and attending alike."

Dr. Greene laughed and clicked her pen. "Those are completely normal though and will level out some as the pregnancy progresses; though I'm sure you already knew that as a doctor yourself."

Lexie nodded. "I also finally felt some flutters from the baby too, within the last week."

"Excellent!" her doctor exclaimed, lifting Lexie's scrub shirt to palpate her stomach gently to check the positioning of the baby. "Pretty soon the will start feeling like real kicks and movements from the baby."

The thought of feeling real kicking made Lexie smile. Her baby, moving around and growing inside of her, letting her know that he or she was there and okay. Though she was still unsure about doing this alone and so soon in her career, she knew she loved her child. Unplanned as this was, Lexie was going to be the most prepared mom in the world by the time this baby came because she had read and memorized all the books so far.

"So let's have a look at the little one and see if he or she will cooperate with us today," Dr. Greene said, grabbing the gel for Lexie's stomach.

A shiver ran up her spine as the cold gel hit her stomach before the wand began to warm it up as Dr. Greene moved it over to bring up images of the baby on the screen. There was the outline of a perfect little face that Lexie could see with a hand right by the mouth. Her baby was sucking his or her fingers, which made her smile grow a little more because of how cute it actually was. While Dr. Greene took some measurements of the baby, Lexie gazed in awe at her child and how fast he or she had grown in the last couple of weeks alone. Though she knew fetal development rapidly doubled and tripled during the first trimester into the second, it never ceased to amaze her when she saw her own child.

"Your baby looks to be right about on target for development, maybe even a week ahead," Dr. Green announced, moving the wand along her belly. "Now if we're really lucky, we could catch a glimpse of his or her genitalia and know if it's a boy or girl."

Lexie held her breath for a moment as she watched the screen carefully while Dr. Greene moved the wand along until something caught her eyes right about the same time it did her doctor's. In that instant, she knew what she was looking at and that she was right. A smile passed between them as Dr. Greene stopped the frame to capture a photo for Lexie.

"That…that's my son," Lexie marveled, completely in awe of her child.

"And from everything I've seen today, he looks great, Mom," Dr. Greene praised. "Just keep up with your vitamins and eat well for your growing boy and things should continue to be great."

As she finished up and cleaned off her stomach, Dr. Greene excused herself from the room to give Lexie some privacy. She pulled down her scrub shirt and sat up, holding her photos in her hands. A boy – she was having a son in a few more months and she found herself smiling at that thought. He would also be Mark's son. His first and only son, but he wouldn't know about him just yet.

She snapped a photo of her ultrasound and sent it to her sister before putting the photos in her lab coat pocket as she put it back on. Now that she was done with her appointment, she had a surgery to scrub in on this afternoon and a stack of charts to finish for this afternoon in the Pediatric wing. As she went off for the rest of her day, Lexie made her next appointment for a few weeks from now. After squaring that away, she went about her business until she got off and came home. When she got home, she sent a text to her sister so she could sign onto Skype from her iPad. Lexie booted up her laptop and signed on before Meredith called her.

"Hey!" Meredith smiled and waved. "Alright, show me the bump!"

Lexie laughed and stood up, turning to the side and lifted up her shirt to show off her growing baby bump that was way more noticeable now than it had been in the beginning. "Say hello to your nephew!"

"You look so good!" her older sister complimented.

"Thanks – I actually feel good too…when I'm not being a totally crazy hormonal bitch that frightens all my interns and make the attendings think I'm pretty much crazy."

"And that's different how?" her sister retorted.

Lexie glowered, thinking of the one incident where she did lose her cool in the emergency room. "That was once…and there were reasons," she defended.

Meredith laughed as she was walking down what looked like a hallway. Lexie recognized it immediately though as the Cardio wing of the hospital and figured she'd been with Cristina recently or on Teddy Altman's service since Meredith was in her fourth year, going into her fifth and needed hours evenly around the hospital.

"So any interesting surgeries I should know about going on in Seattle?" Lexie always loved hearing about the surgeries her brother-in-law, the brilliant Nuerosurgeon, performed since he was doing some pretty amazing things these days.

"Derek's clinical trial is still going but the progress is slow because the results take weeks to months to process and examine – but we admitted Adele Webber to the trial," Meredith replied.

Sitting down, Lexie felt her mood sober. "Dr. Webber's wife?"

Her sister nodded slowly. "Her condition is deteriorating rapidly. I saw her in the hospital waiting room and she thought I was my mother and that it was in the 1970s when my mother was having an affair with Richard."

"Wow…" Lexie gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "How…how are they holding up?"

"Webber feels a lot of guilt over her condition and that it's gone down this fast." The sadness in Meredith's voice was evident since she knew how hard everything was for Adele during the years that her mother was sleeping around with Richard, though Meredith had only been a child then and had no fault in it.

"I can't even imagine what either of them are going through. It has to be –"

Lexie was interrupted by a voice she knew all too well.

"Grey! Are you talking to Lexie?" Mark asked before he popped up on her screen next to her sister, sending a wave of panic over Lexie before she remembered he wouldn't see her stomach because her video feed was from her chest up.

"Hi Mark," she said after a moment, waving to him.

"Hey Little Grey," he said, using a tone that he only ever used for her that made her heart melt. "How is life in Boston treating you?"

"It's great – though the weather isn't much better than Seattle most of the time," she laughed nervously, moving her hand down to her stomach where he couldn't see. "How is everything there with you? I heard Callie and the baby were doing much better."

Mark nodded. "Sofia is getting stronger every day and Callie is doing great with physical therapy, though it isn't going as fast as she'd hope."

"That's great news though," she said enthusiastically, knowing he would be relieved to have them both doing well. "And Callie is…she's tough, so she'll get through it all and probably beat the record or something for fastest recovery."

"I should get going to relieve Robbins in the NICU with Sofia, but it was good to see you," he said, giving her a smile that made her heart flutter for a moment. "I miss you Lex."

Her heart felt a pang as he used that nickname. He was one of the few that could use it and get away with it. "I miss you too."

With a wave, he was gone again and Lexie blinked back a few tears of her own. Damn hormones. She turned away for a few moments to have a second to calm herself down as she wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Lexie?" Her sister's voice brought her attention back to the screen after a few moments.

"I have to tell him Mer," she cried softly, turning back to the screen to look at her sister. "Today I found out I'm having Mark Sloan's son. I can't and won't keep that from him, but I need to find the right time to tell him the truth."

"Preferably before that little bundle arrives," her sister added.

"I know…he just had so much on his plate already and when I wanted to tell him, everything had just fallen apart."

"You care about him Lexie, but don't keep it a secret too long. He went through that once before and that didn't turn out so great," Meredith reminded her.

Sloane Riley's mother, Samantha, had been wrong not to tell Mark he had a daughter for eighteen years, even if she had come out of a relationship gone sour and he didn't want to be a father then. Samantha should have still told him, like Lexie was going to do.

"Once Callie and Sofia are out of the hospital, that's when I'll tell him."

"Good. Now get some sleep for my nephew's sake. That's sister and doctor's orders," Meredith commanded lovingly, smiling at her.

"Okay, my butt is going to bed," she conceded, laughing. "Goodnight Mer."

"Goodnight Lexie," her sister replied before they both signed off and Lexie shut her laptop.

Looking down at her belly, she smiled and rubbed it a few times before getting up and heading toward her bed on the other side of the room before climbing in under the covers.

"Guess it's just you and me, Little Man."


	9. Suddenly

**A/N: And here is the next chapter of this lovely story...hope you all are enjoying this as I am loving writing it! _Review_ and let me know your thoughts, feelings, etc!**

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Three months had come and gone since the accident that had almost ripped both his best friend and daughter from Mark Sloan. But, against all odds, Callie and Sofia had pulled through and were about to be discharged from the hospital, pending Sofia passing the infant carrier test. Mark knew that his daughter would ace that test though since she was tough, like all three sides of her family. And they were all more than ready for her to come home, right along with Callie.

Mark sat in the NICU with Sofia in his arms, waiting on Robbins to come back with her car seat carrier. His daughter was passed out on his chest, milk drunk and content with the world, making Mark smile with sheer pride and bliss. Though he had all the natural worries of any father taking home his child for the first time from the hospital, he knew she would be alright in the long run because she had come through the impossible already.

"How's my girl?" Callie asked as she came in, dressed to go home.

"She ate and passed out like a champ," he grinned, looking up.

"Such a good girl! Arizona will be here shortly with the car seat," she went on, leaning in and kissing Sofia's head gently before rubbing her fingers along her hair.

Mark beamed. "She's gonna do just fine. She's a Sloan, a Torres, and a Robbins, so she's gonna rock this test. Her middle name is Tough."

Callie faintly smiled and gazed at the sleeping baby in his arms. Their daughter was a miracle and he knew how lucky they were that she was even alive after being delivered so prematurely without any steroids to mature her lungs. But she had made it and was healthy now, which they were all thanking their lucky stars for.

Arizona came in a few minutes later, joined by Bailey and Kepner to start Sofia's test. When Mark transferred her over to the carrier, she stirred and woke up, looking up at him with a little grin. One that he knew all too well since it reminded him of himself in a lot of ways. The test began and everyone waited, watched, and hoped for the best.

The next hour passed by so slow, Mark thought the minutes were surely crawling but when they made it to one hour exactly, he felt proud and cheered as he moved to take her home. They had all waited for this day for twelve long weeks and they were all eager to get the hell out of this hospital to go home for some real rest and to start their lives.

"No Mark – get her out of that thing right now – it's not safe!" Callie cried, causing Mark to halt what he was doing while she came over to unbuckle the baby in a frantic panic. "Cars are not safe! The last time we were in a care, we both almost died!"

In that moment, Bailey stepped forward and calmed Callie down, which Mark was so thankful for since he had no idea what to say that would even remotely make sense to her right now. But Bailey did. He could tell how scared Callie was, but he knew that it would be okay once they were out of here and home for the first time, letting her settle into the comfort that she and Sofia were safe.

"Alright, it's time to get going and get outta here," he declared, grinning once the mood was lightened again as Callie relaxed. "I'm a dad!"

"Won't be the first time this year," Bailey muttered under her breath, but Mark caught what she said and looked at her, perplexed.

"What did you say?" he asked, letting Callie and Arizona take Sofia out of the NICU as Callie sat in the wheelchair with the baby in her arms.

Bailey seemed flustered for a moment as she looked up at Mark, realizing that he had heard what she said a moment before. She hadn't obviously intended for him to hear that, but Mark had and now he wanted to know what was going on that he didn't know.

"I may…or may not have indirect knowledge of another mini-Sloan coming into the world," she replied coyly after regaining her usual composure and confidence.

"Who?" Mark demanded, frantically thinking of all the women he had slept with in recent months to the past year. But none of them were pregnant and he hadn't been with anyone since just before Sofia was born.

"That is not information I will divulge," Bailey replied sternly, shaking her head. "But think hard in that pretty little head of yours, Dr. Sloan, and you'll have your answer yourself."

With that, Bailey was gone and Mark was left flabbergasted. Someone else was having his child – something he was always shocked to find out, though others never were apparently. As the resident "manwhore" of the hospital, most were more often surprised that he didn't have ten kids by now. But he was still sifting through the names in his head and none of them were pregnant…not a single one, so he had no idea who Bailey was referring to as he walked out of the NICU to find the girls to go home.

After getting everyone loaded in the car, Mark drove them all home, slowly and carefully so Callie wouldn't have a panic attack in the car. Once they arrived, he carried Sofia in and smiled as the 'Welcome Home' sign hung up for all of them to see. Apparently Arizona set it up for Callie and Sofia since this was their first time home since the accident and they were all nervous and excited for it. After taking some pictures, which turned out to be video instead, they settled in and Sofia was laid down in her bassinet for the night…at least until she woke up for her next feeding.

While Callie was sleeping, he and Arizona cleaned up the kitchen from the dinner they had eaten together and Mark's thoughts drifted to what Bailey had told him in the NICU. He had gone through every single woman he had slept with and none of them were pregnant. None of them had a rounded stomach or showed signs of morning sickness or other tell-tale signs…so it couldn't have been anyone at the hospital. And he didn't really date outside of work since he practically lived at the hospital. Unless…Mark's heart stopped for a moment and he stumbled back from the dishes.

"Mark?" Arizona asked, a little worry etched on her face. "You okay?"

"Yeah…just…just a realization I had," he said, shaking his head and finishing up the dishes. "I'm gonna go run an errand, will you be okay with Callie and Sof for a while?"

Arizona nodded. "Calliope is asleep and Sofia won't be up for another two hours, give or take, so I got it handled. Go do what you need to and we'll call. You deserve a break since you never left that hospital the entire time they were there, Mark. Go...get some fresh air...be outside."

If Mark didn't love this woman before, he definitely did now as he hugged Arizona and thanked her before grabbing his jacket and going out of the apartment, checking one last time on Sofia before going down to his car. He got in and immediately made his way over to Derek's, not caring what the hour was right now. When he got there, he knocked on the door and stood back while he waited. The porch light came on and Derek came to the door, looking a bit confused and in pajama pants and a t-shirt.

"Mark…what the hell are you doing here? It's eleven-thirty and you just took a baby home from the hospital. Shouldn't you be with Callie and Sofia?" Derek asked as he opened the door.

"Yeah…I know, but there's something I gotta ask you," he said, motioning for Derek to step out on the front porch with him.

"At almost midnight? This couldn't wait?" Derek seemed kind of annoyed, but this was important.

"No." Mark was insistent that this conversation happen tonight after what Bailey had told him earlier.

"Fine," Derek sighed as he came out on the porch with him. "What is it?"

"Is Lexie pregnant?" he asked point blank, thinking there was no sense in dancing around the question that was lingering in his mind.

Derek seemed stunned by his question for a moment, but he could see the wheels turning in that head of his. "Who would have given you that idea?"

"Derek, don't mess with me…just tell me the truth. Is Lexie pregnant?" Mark wanted answers and he wasn't going anywhere until he got them. There was a pleading insistence in his voice because he knew that this had to be the only answer. The only one that made sense to Bailey's accusations earlier. And if anyone would know if this were true, it would be Derek or Meredith since they were Lexie's family.

There was a hesitation with Derek's next reply, one which Mark knew meant he was thinking about something important. He knew Derek too well to not know that.

"I think…you need to go to Boston and talk to her yourself if you want an answer to that question," Derek finally replied.

Running his hand through his hair, Mark felt completely at a loss for words as he knew that he would have to go. Derek wasn't going to give him a straight answer and he couldn't just ask her on the phone or through a text…this was a conversation they needed to have in person and if it turned out she wasn't pregnant, he still wanted to see her. Their last in-person conversations hadn't exactly been on the best of terms, both when they broke up and when Callie had her accident, so he needed to make things right.

But the nagging thought still ran through his mind about if she was pregnant. And if that was true, she would be more than halfway through her pregnancy by now, meaning she didn't tell him and that was something that hurt him deeply because this was their child; a child that was created when they were still together and still deeply in love with one another.

Looking at Derek, he nodded. "I…I can't leave Callie and Sofia, but I need to go out there."

"Go for two days…get things sorted out and while you're gone, Arizona and I will keep an eye on Callie and Sofia. You have a village Mark. Let the village work."

"What are you, Yoda or something?" Mark asked, fighting back a smile.

"Nah, I don't talk backwards like he does."

Mark laughed and nodded, realizing that he had more family than he ever thought he would. "Okay…take care of them while I'm gone. I'll catch the first flight out to Boston in the morning and be back in two days."

"We'll be fine here," Derek promised. "And Mark?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't break her heart," Derek said, looking at him sincerely. "She cares about you."

With a nod, Mark let Derek get back to his house while he went back to his car and got in, gripping the wheel as he thought about how he was going to see Lexie tomorrow. A woman he loved with all of his heart and who could potentially be carrying his child without him even knowing. And he didn't understand why she would have kept that from him because he had been so devastated when he found out that Samantha Riley had kept that secret from him for eighteen years, though he had kind of been at fault there when he told her to take care of it. But he had been young and stupid then. Now he was at a place in his life where he was ready and if Lexie had been pregnant…she could have told him and he would have gladly welcomed that news, but he just didn't get it…why she would keep it a secret. Unless she was still so angry with him over Callie that she did it because she couldn't even face him. A thousand thoughts and possibilities ran through his head as he drove around aimlessly for a while, including the one persistent thought in his mind. If Lexie was pregnant with his child, then he wanted to be there. For all that he could now that this child existed. That much he was certain of.


	10. Speechless

**A/N: Here we are again, my lovely readers! So buckle up and prepare yourself..._review_ and let me hear your feels! Thank you all so very much for your support that has made this story possible so far!**

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The next morning, Mark boarded his flight to Boston from Seattle around six in the morning. He knew that when he arrived in Boston, it would be the middle of the afternoon with the time difference and the cross-country flight time, so he settled in his seat and relaxed while they were boarding the other passengers, putting his seat belt on when instructed to before they were moving toward the runway to take off. Mark got comfortable and eventually dozed off a few times, in between thinking about where he was going and who he was going to see. He had sent a few messages to Arizona before takeoff letting her know that he was going out of town for two days and to call if they needed anything at all and to call Derek if there was an emergency situation that he couldn't get to right away.

He had spent the majority of the previous night thinking about what he would say to Lexie and how he would react if she was pregnant. On the one hand, he was upset that she had kept it from him, but at the same time…he knew there had to be a good explanation as to why she would have. After all, this was Lexie and she never did anything without reason. So he tried to keep an open mind about that as they were flying over the country, but there were still so many lingering questions that he wanted answers to and wouldn't get until he talked to her face-to-face. And he knew that he was somewhat ambushing her since he didn't tell her he was coming, but he didn't really have time to warn her.

When they landed, he got up and grabbed his carry-on bag, which was all he had brought with him since the trip was so short, and got off the plane. He walked down the hallway into the airport before going to rent a car, grabbing the keys he was given and found the car parked in the garage. This model had GPS in it, which Mark was grateful for, because in his hurry…he forgot to look up how to get to Mass General from the airport. So he loaded up and got in, getting directions before driving off toward the hospital where he knew Lexie now worked.

He parked the car out in the parking lot where most visitors parked after arriving and came inside the hospital, going up to the information desk, figuring that would be the easiest way to find Lexie in a place as big as this.

"Excuse me," he said, looking at the receptionist. "I'm looking for Dr. Alexandra Grey. Could you please tell me which floor she's working on today?"

"Are you family or of any relation?" the receptionist asked.

"We're friends from Seattle. I'm Dr. Mark Sloan from Seattle Grace – Mercy West Hospital, where Dr. Grey used to be employed before she came here," he told her as he turned on the charm, holding up his own badge from the hospital with a smile.

The lady looked at his badge before clicking around on her computer and looked up some information. "It says here that Dr. Grey is working up on the Neuro floor, which is the sixth floor. Just go down this hall here and take a left. The elevators are right there. Go straight up and take a right when you get off and it'll lead you right to it, unless Dr. Grey is in surgery."

"Thank you. You ladies look lovely this afternoon, by the way," he said as he left, surely making a few of them blush as he took the directions to the elevator and got in, pushing the button to go up to the sixth floor.

While he was waiting in the elevator, he took a few deep breaths to prepare himself for this. It had been three months since he had seen Lexie in person and about four weeks since they had chatted on her sister's iPad, so he had no idea what he was talking into as the elevator dinged and he stepped off, going to the right. There was a nurses' station right up front, where he could see several nurses, interns, and a few residents standing around. But there was one resident that he knew who she was without even having to see her face. The dark hair, curled as it fell down her back, and the same little stance she always had when she was standing and doing charts. There was no one else it could be but Lexie Grey.

And from where he stood, she still looked exactly the same to him. No trace of pregnancy or even weight gain, which confused him. So there he stood for a few moments, trying to figure out how to approach this situation…why he was even here without telling her he was coming, but before he could even think, she began to turn around and he saw it. The unmistakable bump formed under her scrubs. She was pregnant…and from the looks of it, more than four or five months along. Mark stood there, rendered speechless and completely immobile.

"Mark…" Her voice sounded like something out of a dream as he looked at her, seeing the complete surprise in her deep brown eyes as she realized he was standing there.

His vocal cords would not form words as he just stood there, staring at her and then down at the bump underneath her scrubs, realizing that this was really happening. Lexie Grey was pregnant. With his child. And that hit him like a brick wall as he continued looking between her eyes and the swell of her stomach.

"You're…you're here," she said, biting her lower lip while moving her hand protectively to her stomach. "In Boston."

"Lex…" he began, but there were really no words that he could form to describe everything he was feeling at once. Shock. Fear. Amazement. And wonder. All rolled into the undeniable feeling of confusion and some anger.

"We should…we should talk," Lexie said, glaring at her interns to make them all scatter since they were staring at them like they were part of a train wreck that had just rolled into town.

Mark nodded in agreement, still fumbling in his head to find the words to say everything he was feeling. He had never before been rendered this speechless, with the exception of one night long ago, when an intern showed up to his room at the Archfield and began to strip, demanding that he teach her. That seemed like a lifetime ago now as he followed Lexie into the nearest private room before she shut the door and looked at him.

Finally regaining some of his composure, he scratched at the scruff on his chin to his neck and looked at her. She looked absolutely beautiful, just as she always did before, but somehow everything had shifted and she looked even more radiant because she was pregnant.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, knowing it was the first question he had in this entire situation.

"I…I wanted to," Lexie began before going into one of her full-scale rambles. "When I first moved out here, it was to get the hell away from you because I couldn't stay in Seattle and watch you father a child with someone else. And then I felt like crap all the time and then my period was really late so I took a test and it was positive. So I flew out to Seattle when I was ten weeks pregnant to tell you and…"

"How far along are you now?" he interrupted her, albeit a little more sharply than he intended to.

"Twenty-two weeks." There were tears in her eyes; enough to kill him right then and there.

Twelve weeks ago, Lexie had been in Seattle. But twelve weeks ago, Mark Sloan became a father when Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres was delivered prematurely and Callie, his best friend, was on the verge of death after the accident that nearly cost them both their lives.

"Callie…that weekend," he said, realizing the timing of everything as Lexie nodded.

"You were distraught, worried sick about Callie and the baby, so I didn't think it was wise to add another thing to your plate until you were in a better place." The tears in Lexie's eyes were now coming down her cheeks as she tried to wipe them away to stay strong. Lexie was always trying to be strong, which was one reason he loved her as much as he did.

"And now?" he asked, his tone greatly softening.

"I was going to fly out to Seattle the first weekend I had off…after I heard that they released Callie and the baby from the hospital. This wasn't a conversation I wanted to have over the phone or even video chat…this is personal, so I wanted it to be in person. Because…this is your baby too and I know how you felt about having your daughter kept from you for eighteen years. I would never do that to you, no matter how upset I had been or angry when I first moved here."

The anger in Mark's heart greatly lessoned as he realized how much all of this had affected Lexie too. He could see the guilt written across her face and the pain she had been in over the decision to keep this secret from him. The Lexie he knew and loved would have never kept this from him forever. So without even thinking, he moved forward and took her face in his hands, leaning in and kissing her with everything he had. All of the pent up feelings of love for her that he had repressed for months now were flooding out as she didn't fight back, but instead moved her hands into his hair to bring him closer so her stomach touched his. Their kiss was passionate and slow, heated and unreserved until she broke it apart for air and laughed out loud.

"He kicked…" she gasped, looking down at her stomach.

Mark caught what she said and looked at her. "He?"

She held her hand to her stomach and took his, moving it along until he felt a distinguishable thud against his hand. "Whoa…"

A smile came through her tears as her eyes met his. "He…it's a boy."

Mark stood in awe of Lexie as she told him the news about having a son. He was having a son with Lexie and he had just felt him kicking for the first time not even a minute earlier, which was a humbling experience for him since he hadn't been able to feel Sofia kicking before she was born. But right here and now, he could feel his and Lexie's son kicking, which brought a tear to his eye. Lexie held his hand to her stomach and looked in his eyes.

"I never intended to keep him from you, Mark," she explained. "I know you would have wanted to be there, but Callie and Sofia needed you. I didn't want you to feel torn between me and them when they were in the hospital fighting to stay alive."

Looking down into her eyes, Mark knew that she was being sincere and that this meant a lot to her because she had done it out of love for him. And respect to the commitments that he made to Callie and Sofia both, as a best friend and father.

"He…he's healthy?" he asked softly.

Lexie nodded. "Perfectly. He's growing fast and he's just…he's beautiful."

Finding all of this out had Mark reeling with emotion. At first, he had been angry and upset she had kept this from him, but now he could see how she had wanted to tell him all along, but the circumstances had never been right for her to do so. And he could never blame her for that because she had been trying and struggling with that decision since she made it the day she showed up at Seattle Grace – Mercy West when Callie and Sofia almost died. He could see all of that written on her face.

"Lex…come home," he pleaded after a moment, moving one of his hands to brush his fingers along her cheek. "Let me take care of you and the baby."

"What about Callie and Sofia?" she asked, keeping her eyes on his. "You can't just forget about them and I – I have my job here, Mark. I quit Seattle Grace – Mercy West, so I doubt I can get my job back. Plus, it wouldn't look good to switch hospitals again during my residency. And I don't even know what we are…and…and it's _complicated_."

"I can be there for all of you," he insisted. "Sofia will be with her moms a lot until she's a lot older, but I'm gonna be there for her just as I promised I would be all along as her father. But this is my son, so I want to be his dad too. And I miss you."

"You were always leaving me behind – with Sloane and again with Callie and it hurt so much because I loved you and didn't want to love you anymore. Then I came here to get away from you, only to find out that I was pregnant with _your_ baby," she went on, pulling back from him and gesturing with her hands as she often did when she was frustrated or trying to make a point. "I was terrified because this changed everything…_again_…and I wasn't ready for this, but when I heard his heart beating that first time…it hit me. I wanted him, so I decided to do this and was going to tell you, but everything got so ridiculously messed up and I've been doing this all alone!"

The tears running down Lexie's face broke Mark's heart. She had kept that inside for so long and he knew that she needed to get it out. He watched her take a shaky breath before she looked at him again. There was a moment of quiet between them while he searched for what to say, if there was anything he could really say. So many things were left unsaid between them when they last broke up and he knew she had the right to tell him how she felt because it was his mistake that pushed her away, twice.

"I meant what I said…when I said I didn't hate you," she finally said, her voice calmer and more collected than before.

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you did hate me," he said, finding his voice again. "But I never stopped loving you Lexie, even after you had left and I knew you weren't coming back."

"Mark – I don't know if I can come back to Seattle," she said, looking down. "We tried being together twice and it didn't work. And I have a job here. A life here that I've been building for myself and the baby…"

"But your family is in Seattle," he countered, trying anything he could to make her see reason. "Derek and Meredith? And you are a brilliant resident that needs to be taught by the best because you have a bright future."

There was a moment, when Mark looked at her, that he could see that she was struggling with everything he had just said. And he hoped it would be enough to possibly convince her to come home where she belonged.

"I just – I don't know, but I have to get ready to scrub in on a Craniotomy in thirty minutes," she quickly replied. "But I get off around eight. Can we…talk then?"

Mark couldn't say no as he nodded and let her get going to her surgery. For a while, he sat in that room and thought about everything that was hitting him at once. Lexie Grey, the love of his life, was carrying his son. And seeing her pregnant had just amplified all of his feelings for her that were already there. Yet he was still worried that she wouldn't ever come back and that they would forever be stuck in a limbo of trading off custody of their son, which he didn't want. He wanted her to be close by and for them to raise their son together, but it would be a matter of trying to make her see that he still cared about her and that he was willing to make the changes in his life to keep her in it too.


	11. Life Comes At You

**A/N: Hello lovelies! I hope you're enjoying all of this angst and drama because I sure am loving writing it! _Review_ and let me know your thoughts, ideas, and most of all...your feels! Thank you all so much for your continued support as it means a lot to me as the writer.**

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Of all the things Lexie Grey had been prepared for, having Mark Sloan ambush her here in Boston was the very last thing she had expected. So as she went into the surgery that afternoon, she was still reeling from him being here, the scorching kiss they had shared, and that he now knew her secret about their son. All of the feelings she had been repressing for months were crashing into her, but she focused all of that energy into the surgery for a few hours. For those few hours, she was one with her mind and the surgery until they finished and she scrubbed out as the patient was being closed up.

Lexie left and went to the locker room to change, lifting off her scrub top before looking down at her stomach. It had grown considerably in the twelve weeks since she really found out about her pregnancy, requiring her to get the scrub pants with the elastic waistband for now, at least until she was further along and would require actual maternity scrubs. Her plan was to work up until she couldn't operate anymore and was put on desk duty until her delivery. And after, she was taking six weeks off maternity leave for her baby before coming right back to work. But for now, she was just enjoying the little things about her pregnancy. The baby was moving around again and she pressed her hand to her bump and smiled a little.

"Alright little one," she said, taking a deep breath. "Let's go see your father."

Her regular clothing were more comfortable as she pulled her jeans back on and slipped her shirt on over her belly, smoothing out the fabric so it sat correctly against her stomach. She had already had to invest in a few maternity tops since her stomach had grown considerably in the last few weeks. Once she was dressed, she stepped into her ballet flats and grabbed her bag before going out toward the front of the hospital, just outside. Mark was already waiting there for her as she approached him.

"Hey," she breathed, still trying to fathom that he was really here in Boston to see her.

"How was your surgery?" he asked, as if nothing had passed between them and they were still the same people they had been in Seattle. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

"It was good…success actually," she replied, holding the strap of her bag against her shoulder.

Mark smiled a little. "Where to now?"

"I was thinking we could go back to my place so no one can pry into our business and we can really talk," Lexie suggested. She just wanted it to be just them so they could have a real discussion about all of this.

"That sounds good…lead the way and I'll follow."

Walking from the front of the hospital, Lexie lead him to the parking lot and her car before getting in on the driver's side. The drive back to her place was relatively quiet as she couldn't think of what to really say to him right now that wouldn't come out wrong or as another long ramble where she spewed out all of her feelings at once. So the silence stayed between them until they arrived at her place and went up to her apartment.

"I know it's not much, but it's home," she explained as she opened the door and came inside, letting him follow her in.

Mark let out a laugh. "You forget, I used to live in a hotel room for several months."

The thought of that room made her smile because it was where they had begun. Where they had become Mark and Lexie, despite all of Derek's requests for him to stay away from her because she was Meredith Grey's little sister. But they never listened, at least then they hadn't. Yet they were a far cry from the couple they had been back then, when things were simple, like sneaking around and getting Mark in and out of Meredith's attic. Now things were so much more complicated and Lexie wasn't sure how they had gotten so lost from who they used to be.

"Well at least this place has a real, functional kitchen. I can't complain much otherwise." Dumping her purse, she walked further in and turned around to face him in the middle of her living room. "I have a few things to show you."

Going over to the bookshelf in the corner of the living room, Lexie got a box down before coming over to sit on the couch, motioning for Mark to join her. When he did, she took off the lid to the decorated box and pulled out a stack of photos. Every single one of her ultrasounds were in there, in order from the beginning of her pregnancy until now. She held them out to him.

"All the ultrasounds are there, from the very first one I had until the most recent from two days ago," she told him.

Mark looked through them slowly, seeing their son for the first time. His features softened and Lexie could see how much he loved him already. For all of his faults, Mark really did have an wonderful heart that she always knew was there, right from the start. Beneath the brooding and sarcastic demeanor that he always wore was a heart of gold that cared for others deeply once you were in his life.

"He…he is amazing, Lex," he murmured, still looking at the photos in his hands.

"He really is," she agreed with a smile as she rested one hand on her bump.

"That day we talked on the video chat…you were already…" he trailed off.

"I had just found out he was a boy that day," she said, feeling a strong kick from her son that send her hand up slightly.

"I've missed so much," he said sadly, looking up at her. "But I don't want to miss anymore."

Lexie nodded, feeling guilty that she had to keep this from him for so long because of all the things that both of them were going through. "I…I also took pictures of my stomach every week so you could see the changes."

Handing him those pictures, she let him look them over as well. Each one was labeled with the date and the week of her pregnancy. She had done it mostly for him, but also planned on making an album of her pregnancy later on when she had time, between work and getting ready for the baby's arrival.

"You look beautiful," he said as he looked at the most recent picture last and then up at her.

Blush rushed to her cheeks. Mark Sloan always had this effect on her and she couldn't figure out why he was the only one. "Thanks."

"So what happens now?" he asked, keeping his eyes on hers.

"I have one more thing to show you," she replied, ignoring his question before taking out a DVD from the box and getting up to put it in.

She turned on the television and began to play her most recent ultrasound for him on the screen. You could clearly see their son's facial profile and his little hands moving around by his face. Lexie sat back down and watched as Mark was captivated by their son on the screen. It went through all the measurements for him and showed his boy parts again, which Mark grinned at and Lexie couldn't help but laugh since he murmured something about him being a Sloan for sure. But at the end of the video, it paused on the beating heart of their son. There was a tear in the corner of his eye by the end of the whole video.

"He is just…really something, Lex," he said, glancing over at her. "And I want to be there for you and for him."

"I want you to be in his life and I would never deny you that because you're his father," Lexie added quickly. "We can figure out something that would work for all of us."

"Or you could move back home to Seattle," he refuted just as quickly, repeating his earlier sentiment to her.

Lexie sighed and shook her head. "Mark, we've been through this. I'm not moving back to Seattle. I just got settled here and this is my home now."

His resolve was legendary, so she knew he would keep trying but she would not give in again to Mark Sloan. Not this time.

"But this is my kid and I don't want to be the holiday only dad that sees him once or twice a year!" he yelled sharply.

Her heart sank and she shrank back for a moment not expecting him to yell at her like that. Though she was still firm about not moving, she could see how much it upset him because he wanted to be active in their son's life. And she could never fault him for that because he would be there for their son as the father he deserved.

"I know…I just can't uproot my life again," she said softly, looking down at her stomach. "He needs stability and we've had that here."

Mark sighed deeply, holding the photos in his lap. "You're as stubborn as ever, Little Grey."

That much she knew was true, especially now that her hormones were making her meaner than she ever was before she was pregnant. Most everyone knew to avoid her on her bad days and to treat her with a little leeway when she was in a crying at the drop of a hat mood.

After a moment of awkward silence, she stood up. "I…should get some sleep. And so should you. The um…couch pulls out into a bed and the extra sheets are in the closet."

With a nod, Lexie left Mark and went to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Tears were already forming in her eyes as she leaned against the door and held her hands on her stomach. Everything hitting her at once, she felt hot tears rolling down her cheeks as she let go of her self-control. She was still angry at Mark on some level because of the guilt he was laying on her about moving back to Seattle. And also because, if she was honest with herself, she still loved him. But she had gone down that road twice before, only to get burned both times because she had trusted him with her heart.

Pushing herself away from the door once she had calmed down a little, she began to get ready for bed. She pulled out her pajama pants and changed into those before grabbing a grey shirt. The material was soft and familiar as she pulled it on, stretching it over her distended belly. She had kept this grey shirt for years…since her first night with Mark when he answered the door wearing it and she commandeered it later on. Now it rested snugly against her stomach where she was carrying their baby. Lexie climbed into her ed and curled onto her side, suddenly wishing she had Mark to hold her.


	12. Breathe (2 AM)

**A/N: You guys seriously amaze me...thank you all so much for all the positive support you've given me along the way for this story! _Review_ and let me know what you think of this next installment...**

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Dreams plagued Lexie all that night as she tried to sleep. Every moment of her and Mark's relationship played like a movie reel in her mind, both good and bad. But the ending scene brought her back to consciousness faster than she ever had before. Shooting up from her bed in a cold sweat, she looked around and realized it was a dream instead of anything that actually happened, more of a nightmare from hell really. She never wanted to see that image again, but because of her photographic memory, that image would be forever burned into her brain. Images of Mark trapped beneath something heavy – dying. It was something she never wanted to think about ever.

Lexie retreated from her bed to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face to wake herself up, looking in the mirror at her tired eyes. Pregnancy supposedly gave you some weird, vivid, and crazy dreams, but that had been beyond ridiculous. It was beyond not okay in her book because the ending wasn't even something that had happened to them, but an imagining of her own mind.

Looking down at her stomach, she said, "Well played, Little One, well played."

That dream turned nightmare had definitely stirred up a lot of her emotions given the charged conversation she and Mark had the previous night before she went to bed. Part of her was irritated that he still had this pull on her heart, but another part knew that they were so tangled up in each other that it was inevitable that they would be drawn back to each other over and over again, like magnets that had the strongest charge to one another and only one another. Lexie had once told Mark that she would always love him but she had run away when he hurt her. Now she didn't know which way was up anymore.

Sighing as she looked in the mirror one last time, she left her bathroom and peeked into the living room where Mark was sleeping. In his sleep, he looked much younger, but still as handsome as always. The sight of him tugged on her heart, so she slipped back into her room and shut the door. It was just after two in the morning, so she knew it would be just after eleven in Seattle. Picking up her phone from the nightstand, she dialed her sister's number and sat down on her side of the bed while it rang.

On the third ring, Meredith picked up. "Lexie?"

"Hey…" she said tiredly.

"Is everything alright? It's after two in the morning there." Her sister's concern was sometimes really sweet.

"Mark is here," she blurted out, knowing that about summed up everything accurately in three words.

"Oh…" the elder Grey trailed off.

"Yeah…he ambushed me at the hospital yesterday and I was…I wasn't prepared to see him and tell him because he's…he's Mark and God, nothing has changed about him. But he saw me and now he knows I'm pregnant and wants me to come back to Seattle, but I can't. Then we had a disagreement and…"

"Lexie breathe!" Meredith commanded. "Take a breath and calm down before you work yourself up too much."

She paused and did as her sister told her to, feeling just how much she was trembling now.

"Now go slow and tell me what happened," her sister instructed.

"Mark wants me to move back to Seattle, but I told him I wasn't going to and he got upset," she explained slowly and calmly after a moment.

"What reasons did you give him?"

"That I have a job and life here and that we never worked when we were together before. Both times we broke up because we wanted different things and were at different places in our lives."

"But you're now pregnant with his baby," Meredith pointed out.

Her sister would be the one to point the obvious out, even if it kind of made a point since Mark had made it well known he wanted marriage and kids with her and constantly pushed the issue before Lexie was even ready to consider that. But that didn't make her change her mind about what she wanted now, regardless of having a child. She knew that she could handle having this baby and keeping her career going, but handling a marriage on top of that was out of the question. Like Bailey had done before her, she would have her son in residency and still become the most amazing surgeon. It was about balance. And right now, having Mark anywhere near that delicate balance would threaten to throw her in one direction or another, so she wasn't having it.

"I know and I'm not cutting him out of our son's life, but I need to stay here," she defended. "I will not uproot my life again for Mark Sloan."

"Are you saying that because you really have moved on or because you're afraid?"

"I am not…I'm not scared!" she stammered, feeling like she'd been blindsided by her own sister.

Meredith didn't seem convinced, even via the phone. "You are still in love with him."

"I am not," she denied vehemently.

"You are the worst liar, Lexie. Even I lie better than that and I'm terrible."

Lexie grumbled to herself about her lack of deceptive skills. She had always been a horrible liar, even as a child because keeping secrets was not in her DNA. It gave her high blood pressure and she didn't like it, which was why every single one of her friends growing up never told her any kind of important secrets that had to be kept from parents or boyfriends because Lexie was a beacon of truth whether she liked it or not.

"Okay, so what if I still love him…it doesn't change the fact that we didn't work before and there's no reason that it would work now, even with a baby," she said, sighing deeply as she laid on her side in bed, staring at the wall.

"Have I ever told you how many times Derek and I have broken up and gotten back together?" her sister asked after a moment.

"I know of a few times," she replied, trying to think if she ever knew the exact amount from before she actually met her sister until now.

"It has been many, many times," Meredith went on. "But, what you learn with each break up is what works for you and what doesn't. God, Derek and I…we fought over the stupidest things and now we know that those things ultimately don't matter. And I was even afraid of taking the steps that you're afraid to…the whole marriage and kids thing because I wasn't ready for it. And now…"

"Now you are post-it married to McDreamy," Lexie finished with a laugh.

"Yes, we are. And we're happy because that's who we are. You and Mark have your own history and your own mistakes that both of you have made, but there is no one that cares more for you two than each other. And you know I'm not normally this sappy, but you're my sister and this is important."

Lexie rested her hand on her stomach, feeling a few kicks from her little boy as he was waking up and getting more active. Deep down, she realized that her sister was right, but it didn't change the fact that she and Mark had been down these roads before and rushed things so fast that it just blew up in their faces because neither of them were prepared for what the other wanted since they hadn't talked about what they had wanted when they began their relationship. Part of that was because in the beginning, Mark had no idea he was even a father to a teenage daughter, but another part was because Lexie didn't know what she had wanted either. Being with Mark had just been fun and exciting for her because she'd never been with a man like him before, but as she fell in love with him, she knew that her wants had shifted.

"I just need…time, to think things through," she conceded. "But you know how Mark is. He wants everything right now and his way."

"Be honest with him. Tell him that he can't push you to do things because that is what caused your breakups before."

"I've tried…that didn't work," Lexie rolled her eyes, knowing she had tried about every technique in the book to get Mark to see that he couldn't just push her into things.

"Then you're going to have to stand up for yourself, tell him exactly what you want and what your demands are, and stick to your guns. Don't let the Sloan charm work on you like it usually does," Meredith said.

"That is…" Lexie started to defend herself, but realized that she couldn't. Her sister was right about the Sloan charm and she couldn't even argue about it. "You're right."

"Be strong Lexie, not just for you but for my nephew too," Meredith reminded her.

"I will. Thanks Mer…I know it's not easy with me calling you all the time and probably driving you nuts," she said, realizing that she was getting tired again. "But I should let you go since I'm getting tired again. I just…needed someone to talk to."

"I don't mind. You need someone to vent to and you're my sister," Meredith replied. "Get some rest and I'll talk to you tomorrow sometime between surgeries."

Lexie yawned. "You get some rest too. Love you Mer."

"Love you."

With that, they hung up and Lexie put her phone back on the nightstand beside her bed. It was now closer to two-thirty and she felt herself drifting. Pulling a blanket around her again, she curled into it and rubbed her hand along her stomach where her son was kicking. Babies were more active at night during this time of the pregnancy, so she knew it would take a while for him to calm down, giving her a little more time to think about what her sister had said.

If Mark wanted her to come back to Seattle so badly, then she knew that she would have to lay down the ground rules if she even considered going back there. And that would be hard with him because she did still love him and part of her always would, no matter how much distance was between them, literally or figuratively. He had told her, back when she was dating Alex, that she could have a husband…and then everything spiraled out of control with the shooting and then her PTSD before she pushed him away to be drawn back again. They were happy again for a little while, before she found out about Callie being pregnant by Mark…and then it all just hit the fan and she ran away, out to Boston, where she found out she was pregnant too.

Now…now Lexie didn't know what she was going to do. Or how the hell she was going to figure it out.


	13. Breakfast and Apologies

**A/N: And we meet again! I am really loving writing this story for you guys...so please _review_ and let me know what you think. I really enjoy getting feedback and hearing what you have to say as my readers.**

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The rest of the night passed a little easier for Lexie as she went back to sleep and didn't dream again. When she woke, she looked at the time and groaned when she saw it was just after six. Today was her day off and she just wanted to get some sleep, so she rolled over on her other side and tried to drift off again. Too many years of training herself to live off five hours of sleep were working against her. Plus she heard noises coming from the other room and knew Mark was rustling around and probably awake by now. But when she heard pots and pans, she grew curious.

Getting up, she walked to her door and peeked out as she cracked it open just enough to see Mark was in her kitchen, rummaging for something to make by the looks of it. He was in a tight black t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants that she recognized easily, which didn't help with her hormones either as she found herself suddenly turned on. And she realized how long it'd been since she'd had sex at all. Five months and counting.

_God he always looks so hot when he's concentrating…in those tight shirts…no Lexie…no!_

She had to chastise herself sharply because they weren't together, they had fought the previous night, and this was all her hormones really amping up everything that she felt. But as he was looking around, it didn't look like he was finding anything. Lexie lived on a resident's salary with no roommates to help her out with the bills or groceries. But she usually made due just fine since it was just her and the baby.

"I uh…I'm sorry there's not a whole lot to pick from," she apologized as she came out. "Resident salary and no roommates does not equal a lot of grocery money."

Mark looked up, startled to see her. "I thought you were still asleep."

"I was, but can't fool my body when it's trained to be up every morning before the crack of dawn," she shrugged as she went to the fridge and got out some juice and a cup to pour it in from the cabinet.

"That never really goes away," he chuckled as he started mixing up some waffles sans eggs.

Lexie smiled a little since he had remembered her allergy. Very few people did, but he always had even when they weren't together as a couple. Just like he remembered she liked to be on top in bed…which brought her thoughts right back to jumping him right then and there in the kitchen.

_Damn it! Get a hold of yourself Lexie. He is just a man…in a very tight shirt…cooking you breakfast…who happens to be very good in bed. God he is good. And sex is good for pregnancy. It's supposed to be phenomenal in the second trimester…maybe just once. No! I'm not doing this again!_

Lost in her thoughts for a moment, she snapped back and shook her head, reminding herself that she couldn't let her hormones control her. That is what got her in trouble before. Well that and her inability to not love this man, no matter how much he made her angry. Reaching over, she grabbed an apple and began cutting it up into slices.

"Since when do you eat apples?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her suspiciously as he kept mixing.

"Well since I got pregnant and your son apparently makes me want them all the time," she shot back, glancing over at him.

Mark laughed as he started heating up the griddle. "I knew it would happen sooner or later," he teased.

Rolling her eyes, Lexie finished cutting up her apple and started eating one of the slices. Even if she hated this fruit – it was all she wanted right now and had wanted since she was about sixteen weeks pregnant.

"About last night…" she began, wanting to get the huge elephant out of the room fairly early in the day since it was hanging on her mind and heart.

"I'm sorry," Mark butted in, looking at her. "I should know better than to push you to do something because it's how I lost you before."

Lexie was speechless for a moment as she looked at Mark and let his words sink in. Had he really matured so much that he could admit that he was wrong? Or was he just pulling at her in another way that he had learned? She couldn't tell until he looked into his eyes, which could never hide anything form her even if he tried. Mark's eyes had always been the most expressive thing about him…emotionally, at least.

"I do want you to be in our son's life and…moving back to Seattle isn't completely off the table after my residency is over," she said, eating another slice of apple.

"I can'…accept that," Mark replied, flipping out the first waffle.

"I'm due at the end of October, so we have time to work out how we want to do this. And we have video chat, which can help," she went on, knowing it would be tough for both of them because he wanted to be here, but he also had Sofia back in Seattle to care for and worry about.

Mark nodded. "And I'll be here when I can fly out between the hospital and helping out with Sofia."

"I'll have about six weeks of maternity leave after he's born that I'm taking off to spend time with him, if you want to come out here during that time too, at some point."

"I'll be here." He reached into the cabinet and got the plates out for both of them. Lexie could tell that he wasn't done fighting for her, but for now…the argument was done and over.

She took her waffle and went over to sit down, smoothing out her shirt over her belly before she started eating. Mark had always been a better cook than her and she admired that he had taken up the hobby because most guys wouldn't. But then again, he had to eat too and when he didn't have a girlfriend to take care of him, he couldn't eat take out all the time. It would get old fast. She looked up at him as he joined her a minute later.

"You still have that shirt," he mused, looking at her with a grin. "There were some good memories in that one."

Looking down, she suddenly realized that she had put it on and hadn't changed out of it from last night. She felt her cheeks heat up as she blushed since he had remembered it so easily as his own shirt that she had basically just stolen for herself when they were dating.

"Yeah…when I ambushed you at your hotel," she said, reminiscing about how nervous she'd been that night. All of her bravado left as she began stripping down and she bared herself to him, asking if she was so bad before he finally kissed her.

"I was taken by surprise and you know I rarely am," he laughed as he ate his own breakfast. "But you always knew how to surprise me, Little Grey."

"In more than one way," she added, looking pointedly at her stomach.

"I see it but it's still amazing to think that he's really in there, you know?"

That thought had crossed Lexie's mind more than he knew because of all the growing her son had done in the last five months since his conception. And she knew that once he arrived, she could continue to be astounded by him since he was her son. Before she found herself pregnant with Mark Sloan's child, having babies was the last thing on Lexie Grey's mind, but now…she was going to be a mother by the end of the year and that was both frightening and somewhat exciting to her.

"Lex…why didn't you terminate the pregnancy?" he suddenly asked after a moment of silence between them. "I mean, you said you didn't want kids yet and your career is still just starting…it's why we broke up and everything the first time."

"Because…this baby is ours," she replied, holding her hand to her stomach. "I thought about it and I went to the clinic, but I just couldn't destroy something we made together. I still don't want to have kids while I'm a resident, but I can't imagine not having him now…he's too much a part of my life now."

Mark seemed touched by that sentiment as he smiled a little. "Does he have a name yet?"

Lexie shook her head. "Not yet. Nothing seems…right. So I've taken to calling him Little One or…um Monkey."

"Monkey?" He arched a brow.

"He moves around a lot! He's like a little monkey in there," she said defensively with a laugh.

"Well he's a Sloan and we're athletic and very…active." He winked as Lexie rolled her eyes again.

"Not even seven in the morning and you're dirty flirting."

A sly grin crossed his lips. "You're the only one who ever resists. Or tries to at least."

"Well…someone had to, right?" she asked, smirking at him as she continued to eat her waffle and pray to have the strength to resist him.

Inwardly, Lexie groaned and remembered how much fun it was to flirt dirtily with Mark. They had done a lot of dirty secret flirting at the beginning of their relationship and she put her foot down about it until he told Derek that they were seeing each other. But it was so much fun and she had forgotten how much fun it was and how much of a tease that he could be.

"So…do you have to go in today to work?" he asked, changing topics.

Lexie breathed a sigh of relief to have her mind taken off of her desire to jump him right here and now, on the table. There was only so much a pregnant girl could take before she lost her control and just did what she didn't want to do right now. She didn't need to be having sex with Mark Sloan when they weren't anything other than two people who used to date twice before who happened to be having a child together, though she knew that he was much more to her than that…though she had a hard time admitting that out loud.

"I'm off today…we could get out and I could show you around Boston," she offered, smiling. "I love this city and spent four years here during medical school, so I know all the best places to eat and go for pretty much anything you can think of."

_Yes…get out of the house. Get your mind off of this insatiable desire to jump his bones._

Mark smiled and nodded. "I think that might be fun. I'll get dressed and let you get dressed, then we can get outta here."

Lexie grinned and finished up her breakfast before going to put the dishes in the sink, knowing she'd clean later when they came back. When he did the same, she made her way back to her room, but turned just in time to see him pulling off his shirt, leaving him shirtless in the middle of her living room. And God he looked good enough to eat. Groaning, she went to her room and shut the door, feeling like she needed to step into a cold shower to cool herself off as her skin was flushed, her heart was beating rapidly and all she wanted to do right now was go out there and kiss Mark Sloan so hard it made her head spin.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself. "Pull yourself together Grey. He is just…a man."


	14. Boston

**A/N: So sorry about the lack of updates this weekend...I had a lot of wedding stuff to do with a friend since she's getting married in 2 weeks and I can't be there. So here is the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy it! _Review_ and let me know your thoughts!**

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In an attempt to cool herself down, Lexie jumped into her shower after stripping down from her pajamas. The cooler water rushing over her scalp was definitely a wake-up call as she found herself shivering after a moment. It was unbelievable that Mark could still have this effect on her, but then again the man was practically a legend in and of himself. He made her feel alive and so…sexy when they were together, like she had never felt before him. The other six…seven guys she'd been with before were nothing compared to Mark.

_And you're right back to square one, even with the cold water, _she chided herself in her head. _Damn it._

Lexie finished her shower and got dressed in a maternity top and pants before drying her hair and letting it fall in its natural waves over her shoulders. When she finished her hair, she applied only the bare minimum amount of makeup to cover the darker circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. Once she was ready, she grabbed her bag and came out from her room. Mark was wearing jeans and a v-neck shirt, grey like the one he once wore in Meredith's attic. It took all of her strength not to kiss him and remind herself why he was so wonderful.

"Hey…I'm ready when you are," she said, clearing her throat.

He gave her a smile. "Where to first?" he asked.

"I was thinking we could go to the Public Garden. It's really gorgeous this time of the year, in the Spring and Summer months."

One of Lexie's favorite places was the gardens here in Boston, where she would often go to study during medical school or go for walks when she needed a break. The tulips there were some of her favorites because of their bright colors. And they always smelt so good too, giving off one of the best scents of Summer and Spring, in her opinion. She loved laying out under the clouds and looking up at the sky during her breaks and figuring out what clouds were shaped like animals and which reminded her of food, which she did with her best friend.

"That sounds great," Mark agreed. "But will it top Central Park in New York?"

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see," she grinned, smiling as she went out the door.

Mark followed her out to her car and got in before they were off. Some of the tension from the night before was gone. They were talking and laughing again, which Lexie had missed so much in her time here in Boston away from him. Before they were ever intimate, they had been friends and she really liked that about their relationship. They were able to be brutally honest to one another and she had been mean to him, even when she was an intern, calling him out on his crap. But that was what made their relationship so great and worked for them. And it was so easy to slip back into that with him that it scared her, but she didn't let it show as they arrived and she parked the car.

"I used to come here and study when I was in med school," she mentioned as they got out and walked toward the gate.

"You studied? I thought you just looked at something once and it was burned in that brain of yours permanently," he teased, gently nudging her side.

Scoffing and feigning insult, Lexie bit back a grin. "Hey! Even I had to put in the work and read my books, just like you. But I actually probably remembered what I read about a hundred times better than you ever could."

There was a moment where they passed a smile between them before they walked in. All of the flowers were in bloom as Lexie caught the wind wafting the scents around in their direction. Pregnancy had amplified her sense of smell so much that she swore she could probably identify every kind of flower in the park. Right now, she didn't mind so much, but when she caught every scent at the hospital…it made her want to vomit.

"So this is where you used to come all the time?" he asked as they walked along the little trail.

"Yeah, there's a little hill over there that overlooks the pond where I would sit and read my textbooks. It was quiet and I loved it," she replied.

Mark smiled at that. "When I needed to think, I would go to Central Park and walk around. Sometimes I would go run, but mostly I just liked to walk."

"It's peaceful in places like this," she commented as they kept on going down the path that wound around the pond. "When the baby comes, I want to bring him here to play and run around like the other kids around here."

"He'll love that. When I was a kid, I loved being outside and playing all kinds of sports."

The thought of Mark as a child brought a smile to her face. She could see him as a little boy with those big blue eyes of his, running around his neighborhood with Derek, playing games and teasing the hell out of Derek's four sisters.

"Maybe you could teach him to throw a baseball when he gets bigger," she suggested, glancing at him as they walked.

"Oh yeah, he's gonna be a Yankees fan for sure," Mark declared proudly.

"What if I want him to be a Sox fan?" she asked, her nose scrunching at him slightly.

"Come on Lex, the Yankees are the American team!"

"America practically started in Boston," she argued with a smirk. "Where would we be without the Boston Tea Party? Or Paul Revere?"

"Lexie Grey, a woman who would use history to argue about baseball," he laughed.

"I always knew my American History class would come in handy someday. If it wins me an argument now, then it was well worth all the effort I put in during the seventh grade."

"Who said I was going to let you win?" Mark gave her one of his signature grins and winked as they came to a shady place to sit down.

They sat on a bench under a larger tree while others passed by either walking or running. Since it was a little warmer, there were a lot of families out with their children, making Lexie smile as she ran her hand along her bump and felt the baby moving around after a moment.

"May I?" Mark asked, nodding to her stomach.

Lexie nodded and placed his hand over her stomach. "He gets really active when I'm not moving around a whole lot. Like me moving is kind of his…rocking chair, I guess."

As Mark touched her stomach, the baby gave a stronger kick against his hand, making both of them smile at one another. Despite all the drama, they could still be this way about their son with one another and that was special.

They stayed in the gardens until lunch, when Lexie took him to one of her favorite places to eat. Lexie was really enjoying this time with Mark, showing him pieces of her life here in Boston from when she had been a medical student and lived here before moving to Seattle for her residency. After lunch, they visited Harvard, where she'd gone to medical school and ran into one of her old professors, who seemed shocked that she was pregnant in her third year of residency. Though he wished her well, Lexie could tell by the look on his face that he was disappointed in her. Babies apparently derailed careers in his eyes. Even if Lexie was the most promising resident in her year, it wouldn't mean anything because she had a child. Just after that encounter, Lexie lead Mark outside before turning away to wipe her tears.

"Lex?" he called gently from behind her. "Don't let that asshole get to you. He doesn't know you."

More tears welled up in her eyes, falling down her cheeks. They were stinging and blurring her vision, but she couldn't help it with her hormones and the fact that she felt so insulted by her own professor.

"He's…he is…he is the most respected professor in the medical school here," she whispered, not being able to bring herself to turn and face him.

"So? That doesn't mean he can dictate or predict your future in your career. You are the best damn resident I've ever seen and I know you're going to be an amazing surgeon and mom."

Turning around slowly, Lexie faced Mark, her eyes still brimming with tears that were threatening to fall. Her hormones had been horrible lately, especially when it came to crying. Literally everything set her off without warning. Usually she was better at hiding it, but there was no point with Mark since he knew her better than anyone else.

"I don't want people to not take me seriously because I have a baby," she told him, sniffing a few times.

"Dr. Bailey had her son during her residency. And no one dares disrespects or thinks less of her," he reminded her.

"But she…she's Bailey. She literally puts the fear of God in people with just one look!" Lexie said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm just…Lexipedia. The human computer."

Mark chuckled. "And pretty damn scary when you want to be. Or don't want to be, as it were."

"You are so not bringing up that one episode I had in the trauma center again, are you?" she groaned.

"Just using that as reference for my point." Mark took another step closer and cupped her face with his palm. "You will do just fine Lex, as a mom and surgeon both. No one can say your future isn't promising or bright. They don't know you like I do."

His touch calmed her almost instantly as she looked in his eyes. He always had this effect on her and she knew that it stemmed from the fact that even the lightest of touches from him could bring her to her knees.

"Thank you, Mark," she murmured softly. "We…we could go somewhere else."

"Anywhere you want, we'll go," he said, brushing his thumb along her cheek.

"The harbor is really beautiful at sunset…" she trailed off.

"Then we'll to go the harbor," he concluded, smiling at her.

They left Harvard when Lexie felt okay to face the world again and drove down to Boston Harbor. The sun was making the water glitter as it was going down, providing them with a beautiful, picturesque place to walk. While she walked along, she stopped by the water and rested her hand on her bump, taking a moment to relax. Today had been a really good day, despite the complete near meltdown over her former professor's glance of disapproval.

As she looked at Mark, she couldn't help but smile at him. Though neither of them thought they would be in this position now, they were making the best of it for both themselves and their son, which was all she could have asked for.


	15. Estupido

**A/N: Thank you all again for the wonderful support you are giving me through this story...here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy! _Review_! And I apologize if the translation for certain parts is incorrect...I did the absolute best I could!**

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Leaving Lexie the next morning was the hardest thing Mark had ever done in his life. She followed him to the airport in her car and saw him off, but it took all of his control not to take her in his arms and kiss her again. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her in Boston, alone, and pregnant with his child. But she wouldn't come with him and he wouldn't force her into it. And he had Sofia to worry about too. Everything was just working against him these days when it came to Lexie.

But she was as beautiful as ever, especially pregnant with his baby. And the entire two days he was there, he had to keep himself in check so he didn't do anything stupid. Mark was always the biggest sabatoge to his own happiness. Even Derek's mother had told him that much before when she last came to Seattle when he and Lexie had been dating before finding out about Sloane Riley. He thought about that as the plane took off from Boston, leaving a piece of his heart behind there.

Upon arriving in Seattle, Mark got off the plane and went to Callie and Arizona's to visit Sofia. While there, he thought about Lexie a lot and all the mistakes he had made that pushed her away and now put them in this position. While they had both made mistakes, his were the bigger of the two. He had tried to push her into becoming a step-mother and grandparent at twenty-six. Then he and Callie decided sleeping together would be a good idea when both of them had been missing their better halves, which resulted in Sofia's birth. So he understood why she had left and why she didn't want to come back to Seattle.

Mark went back to work the next day and fell into a routine of work, going to see Sofia, and talking with Lexie over the days that followed. He and Lexie would video chat between their surgeries and text back and forth about their days, the baby, and just about everything else in between. And he loved how they were talking again since he had missed that the most when they were apart. About a week after his visit to Boston, he was at Callie's, texting Lexie while helping out with Sofia.

"Mark Sloan, do you have some new booty call?" Callie asked as she came in the living room with Sofia. "You're always on your phone like it's the end of the world over there."

"What? No…it's not," he defended quickly, looking up from his phone.

His best friend didn't look convinced. "Uh-huh, who is it this time? One of the nurses or another resident?"

"No, I'm texting Lexie," he replied. No sense in lying about it.

"Little Grey…I thought you two hadn't spoken to one another since she left for…Boston or something."

Mark shook his head. "It's complicated. And there's something…"

"What are you talking about?" Robbins asked, coming in the room after a moment, catching the tail end of that apparently.

"Apparently Mark has a thing with Little Grey," Callie answered as they both sat down on the couch opposite of him.

"I thought she lived in Boston now…did she come back or something?"

"They're texting all the time or something like that," Callie went on.

Mark sighed. He never got anything in edgewise with these two and hadn't since the moment Callie started dating Robbins. But that was the thing about being best friends with someone that was dating a woman and was also one herself. They liked to chatter.

"Lexie is pregnant," he blurted out over the chatter of the other two women in the room.

Immediately, there was silence as two pairs of eyes started at him in shock. He knew to expect that since most people had no idea, other than Meredith and Derek because they were Lexie's family. But the silence didn't last long. Carefully, Callie handed Sofia to Robbins before standing up.

"That's why you left last week – to see her," Callie said, putting the pieces together finally since he hadn't exactly told her why he had to take a trip across the country.

Mark nodded and held up his phone to her. On it was a photo he had snuck of Lexie while they had been walking along the harbor on his last night there. She was standing by the water with her hand on her belly, looking down while the light cascaded around her perfectly. It was a photo he looked at often and made him realize how deeply he still loved her.

"She is about twenty-three weeks along, but I just found out last week," he explained, bringing the phone back to his lap. "When Sofia was born, she was here in Seattle to tell me, but didn't get to because of all the chaos and then she felt guilty putting that on me when I had so much else to worry about."

"And you left her in Boston?" Callie asked, arching her brow.

Mark nodded. "She didn't want to come back here."

"Estúpido!" Callie exclaimed, reaching over to smack the back of his head before going into a full scale rant, almost entirely in Spanish.

"Te fuiste el amor de su vida en Boston!" she rambled on. "Mark you are…un tonto y no sé cómo se puede hacer eso. Es Lexie por el amor de Dios!"

For a momento, Mark was stunned and a little confused as to what exactly she was pissed about. He glanced at Robbins while Callie was still going on and on.

"Should we…?" he asked.

Robbins shook her head. "Let her finish and take a breath otherwise you'll just upset her more," she warned. Mark nodded and decided Robbins' advice was the best to follow given they had been together a while.

"La amas y ella todavía te ama ...we all _know_ that. Los dos son demasiado ciegos o demasiado terco para ver eso," Callie went on, pacing the floor while looking at Mark every so often as she went on.

The Spanish rant went on for about another minute before Callie finally stopped pacing and looked at Mark again. Her expression was that of confusion, determination, and as stern as Callie could be.

"Can I get some English in there?" he asked, just throwing that out there as a suggestion.

"You are an idiot," she finally concluded in English.

"What? Why?"

"Because she is the love of your life, Mark, and you are letting her slip through your fingers," Callie came and sat by him on the couch.

"Calliope is right," Robbins chimed in as she looked over at him with Sofia in her arms. "Lexie is your other half. She is beautiful and smart."

"And made you a better man. She may be a little annoying at times, but she loves you and you love her. She is having your baby, Mark. And that is important."

He shook his head. "There…what happened between us…I messed it up twice by trying to push something on her before she was ready. A lot of the fault from both of our break-ups is mine because of Sloane and then when we found out about Sofia. I don't know if she could ever forgive me for that stuff."

"I was able to forgive Calliope because I love her," Robbins interjected. "When you love someone, you can forgive a lot. Even when you don't think you can."

Those words reverberated in his mind as he wondered if Lexie could ever forgive him for his wrongs to see the man she once had seen and been so in love with. He had already forgiven her for making him choose between her and Sloane because ultimately, that shouldn't have ever happened. His daughter, while he loved her and cared about her because she was his kid, had already been raised and was looking for someone to take care of her after her mother kicked her out because of the pregnancy.

"Don't let that be something you regret, Mark. Lexie Grey is the best thing that ever happened to you, so don't let her get away," Callie said.

"And if I know anything about a woman's heart, it's that when you love someone, truly love them…you don't just forget about them or get over them. She still loves you, but she is afraid to say it out loud," Robbins added.

"I just…need time to figure out how to win her back – the right way," he replied after a moment.

The two women seemed satisfied with that answer as everyone settled down again from the excitement from a few minutes earlier.

"So…tell us about the baby," Robbins urged, giving him a smile.

Mark's heart swelled with pride. "He is beautiful," he gushed.

"A boy?" Callie asked, smiling at him.

He nodded and grinned. "A healthy and perfect boy. Lexie kept all the ultrasound potos and a video of the most recent one. He is growing fast…and I felt him kicking while I was there."

"Oh boy, another mini-Sloan running around. Now this will be entertaining." His best friend smirked at him, making him laugh.

"Knowing Lex, he'll be the most polite and well behaved Sloan in the bunch. But there are some things you just inherit and can't erase – like the Sloan Charm."

Both Callie and Robbins rolled their eyes and shook their heads at him, laughing because they knew it was somewhat true because he was charming and somewhat of a legend at the hospital because of that. But the one person immune to that, at least at first, was Lexie. She had always called him out on being a jerk and even told him to shut up when she was just an intern. It was one of the many reasons he had fallen in love with her and why he missed her so much when she wasn't here.

"You and Lexie deserve to be happy…and I think that everything will work out as it is supposed to," Robbins offered, looking at him with a smile.

Though he and Robbins had been indifferent to one another in the past, he really was thankful for her now. And she had always been supportive of his relationship with Lexie, telling him that she was someone that understood him. Now that they knew the truth, he hoped that it would help him in the future as he tried to win Lexie back. He wasn't sure if he could, but he was damn well going to try his hardest because he loved her more than anyone else he had ever loved in his life. Now all he had to figure out was how to win her back without scaring her off like he had in the past…which was a task easier said than done.


	16. Trauma

**A/N: Thank you all so much for all the wonderful reviews! I'm thoroughly enjoying being on this journey with you and Slexie. Please keep _reviewing_ and let me know what you think as we continue on the next chapter!**

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It had been three weeks since Mark's visit to Boston and Lexie had been trying to keep herself busy with work. She had scrubbed in on some pretty impressive surgeries with the Neuro and General Surgeon attending doctors at Mass General, including a tumor and a complete digestional tract transplant that took over eight hours to complete. It was hell on her back, but so worth it because she got to help and put what Dr. Bailey had taught her in Seattle to practice. Her knowledge impressed her superiors, so she was thankful that she had learned so much from Bailey that put her ahead of the game here.

Also during those three weeks, she had spent a lot of her free time Skyping and texting Mark. They really were reconnecting and he was as involved as he could be in her pregnancy from Seattle, including talking her down during one of her meltdowns after a bad day at work where she lost two patients in a row. She was now twenty-five weeks pregnant and her baby boy was growing fast these days. He also moved a lot, so she sent videos of him moving to Mark so he could see too.

One afternoon, she slipped away to an on-call room with her phone, turning on the Skype app. Mark was already signed on, so she video called him as she sat down on one of the beds, leaning back to get comfortable enough. When he answered and turned on the video, she smiled as she saw him in his dark blue scrubs and a grin on his face.

"Hey!" she smiled.

"Hi," he replied, mirroring his smile. "How are you doing?"

"Exhausted, but good. Early rounds this morning and the baby did not like that," she laughed.

"You're eating though, right?" he asked, concern lacing his expression now as he arched a brow at her.

"You tell me," she said, moving the camera so he could see her burgeoning belly beneath her scrub top.

His expression changed back to a smile. "Looking good there. How is he doing?"

Lexie rested her hand on her stomach and moved the camera back up to her face. "He's good, sleeping now actually since I've been walking around this morning."

"But you're resting too, right?" he asked, arching his brow at her again.

"Yes, I'm making sure I sit down every few hours and eat every couple too, especially before surgeries," she assured him.

He was always so protective – even when she wasn't pregnant. That was something she always liked about him while they were dating and she lived in Seattle. There were times when it annoyed the hell out of her, but overall, it was an endearing fact she appreciated. Even if Mark Sloan was a "manwhore" by nature, he was a truly loving man that cared about those he loved. That was plain to see in how he cared about Derek as his family, practically his brother, and how he had grown into a father when Sofia was born. Even more so than when Sloane was around because Sofia was just a baby and needed her father more than his teenage daughter ever did since she had already been raised.

"Good," he grinned. "You both need a break now and then from the crazy."

Before Lexie could reply, her pager began beeping at her from where she had put it when she had sat down on the bed. Sighing, she lifted it up and looked at it, seeing that the page was for an emergency that was coming into the trauma center. That meant that something really bad was coming in and they needed all hands on deck to help out.

"Speaking of the crazy, I have to go…big emergency coming in and I'm being paged, but I'll see you later to continue this little talk," she promised before signing off and going toward the bay where the ambulances were coming in.

Lexie pulled on a trauma gown and some gloves before looking around. Just about every attending had been brought in, meaning this was really bad. The ambulances pulled up and they began their work. They were told that this was a result of a multiple car pileup that happened on the freeway not far from here. Those were common enough in bigger cities that they were all prepared and organized to go. She was assigned to the patient coming out of the first ambulance, a woman in her twenties that was awake, alert, and had a possible concussion and a few cuts.

"Name is Lucy Andrews. Awake and responsive at the scene with multiple contusions, lacerations and possible wrist fracture," the paramedic said as she was unloaded. "Also fifteen weeks pregnant."

The patient was brought in and they began their assessment while the OB found the fetal heartbeat, which was strong and healthy, indicating that the pregnancy was still viable.

"Miss Andrews, I'm Dr. Grey. We're just going to run a few tests, stitch up those nasty cuts for you, and get that wrist checked out," she told her while they were working carefully.

"Where is Jeremy?" Lucy asked, looking at Lexie with tears in her eyes.

"Jer-Jeremy?" Lexie repeated, not knowing who that was. "Did he come in with you?"

Her patient nodded. "He is the father of my baby. Please…find out if he's okay. His name is Jeremy Atkins…he's thirty-six, over six feet tall, dark hair, and brown eyes."

"Dr. Ross," Lexie called, looking up at her intern. "Go find out how Jeremy is doing and report back to me ASAP. Please."

Her intern nodded and went out while Lexie went on with her exam, checking her pupils for responsiveness and to make sure neither were dilated or blown, which would indicate a brain injury. But neither were and she could see that Lucy was doing relatively well given the situation. She went to work stitching up the wounds while they were waiting to set her wrist.

"So…stupid," Lucy muttered while Lexie worked.

"I'm sorry?" Lexie looked up, confused for a moment.

Her patient blushed. "Sorry…I just…this is my fault. I distracted him for one moment…just one second."

"I'm sure it wasn't your fault – things happen and we can't always see them coming. And accidents happen every day, so I'm sure it wasn't your fault that it happened."

"I was going to tell him I loved him…that I forgave him and still wanted to be with him even after he lied to me and…now I don't know what's going to happen," Lucy went on, wiping away some tears with her free hand.

The strings of Lexie's own heart were being pulled on as she felt for this woman. She was pregnant with the love of her life's baby, but they were having problems just like Lexie had been with Mark, but she had forgiven him and was going to let him back in before the accident. Lexie herself was still struggling with her decision to stay in Boston while Mark was back in Seattle for so many reasons. Her heart still loved him, even though her mind and intelligence told her that it was a bad idea because it hadn't worked before. Mark had tried to push her too fast into things she wasn't ready for, like being a step-mother and grandparent before she even hit thirty, then when he got Callie pregnant and everything just became a mess. But during all of that, she never once stopped loving him. And she understood how Lucy felt…loving someone despite their mistakes and faults. But she pushed her mind away from that while she was stitching up Lucy, using some of the techniques that Mark had taught her to minimize her scarring.

"We're going to see how he's doing really soon, I promise," she went on, knowing it would offer little reassurance until they knew for sure where Jeremy was and if he was okay.

"How…how far along are you?"

Lexie looked up. "Twenty-five weeks and a couple days," she replied with a little smile.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Lucy seemed interested in distraction at this point, so Lexie was going to help her along with it.

"I'm having a little boy. He's due at the end of October, so I'm just waiting on him to be ready to come out." The next fifteen or so weeks would be hard to wait through for Lexie, but she knew she had to be patient and wait for her son to be ready to come into the world.

Lucy smiled. "I don't know about mine yet, but Jeremy said it didn't matter as long as he or she was healthy."

"Well we can finish stitching you up and then move you to a room once they set your wrist while we wait to see how Jeremy is doing," she said, smiling a little as she kept on stitching up her arm.

When Lexie had finished up and the Orthopedic attending had set Lucy's wrist, she wrapped up the arm and put some gauze on her forehead where there was another little cut that they had taken care of. They moved her to a private room for observation overnight, especially because she was pregnant and that was the protocol here. After Lucy was settled, Lexie went to find her intern that she had sent to find out about Lucy's significant other. When she found her, she was in a room with two attendings and they were all looking at brain scans in one of the exam rooms.

"Are those Jeremy Atkins' scans?" she asked, stepping in the room, startling Dr. Ross.

The Neuro attending, Dr. Warren, nodded. "He has a –"

"Subdural hematoma and an aneurysm the size of his eye," Lexie finished.

"You've clipped one before?"

Lexie nodded. "Once, but it wasn't that big. That…that one is huge."

The sheer size of the thing was something Lexie had never seen in person before on a scan, but she knew someone who would have seen one that big.

"Which is why it's too risky to go in and fix the bleed," Dr. Warren replied, shaking his head.

"But he could die or risk permanent brain damage without surgery," Lexie countered with a frown, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And he is likely to become a vegetable or die if we operate, so we can wait and see if his condition improves," the elder doctor went on. "Better call the family and see if he's an organ donor as well."

"He is going to be a father!" Lexie exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "He deserves the chance to live and see his child, not to mention our best effort to save his life rather than just throwing in the towel and using him as an organ donor."

"Think practically, Dr. Grey, not emotionally," her superior chided.

That hit a nerve with Lexie as they were implying that she was allowing her pregnancy to sway her medical opinions. But she had seen worse cases than this walk out of hospitals before, in Seattle. People with tumors the size of eggplants gaining their lives back and their ability to walk without assistance because of the miracles worked there.

"Call Derek Shepherd," she demanded without even thinking twice about it. "Send him the scans in Seattle and see what he thinks. If he agrees with your diagnosis, then I will call the family myself, but if not…then fly him out here and I want to scrub in on that surgery with him."

Dr. Warren looked at her in shock. Lexie had never name-dropped her brother-in-law before now, but this was important. And they didn't know he was her family either, so it worked in her favor that she just so happened to know Derek Shepherd, who was the best Neurosurgeon in the country and one of the most respected as well. Derek was also known for doing some of the most risky and complicated procedures that got his name in medical journals around the country.

"Dr. Grey, you are out of line," Dr. Warren snapped. "This is my case and that is completely inappropriate…"

"Inappropriate to want to save a patient's life?" she interrupted. "You may have given up and resigned this man to death, but I haven't. I've seen miracles happen and people with tumors that would eat your lunch walk out of hospitals with their lives back. So if you don't want to believe in him, then fine. But I won't give up on him and neither would Dr. Shepherd."

Lexie knew she was treading on thin ice, but this patient was important and had something to live for. Someone who loved him and she wasn't going to let him die without knowing Lucy loved him and wanted to forgive him.

"Fine, call Dr. Shepherd and send the scans, but I guarantee you he'll tell you the same thing I'm telling you now," Dr. Warren said, walking out of the room.

There was an awkward pause before Lexie looked at Dr. Ross, then the other attending.

"I've been waiting my entire career for someone to stand up to that asshole," Dr. Edwards said, smirking at Lexie. "They must teach you some real ballsy stuff out in Seattle."

With that, Lexie was left alone with her intern before they both started laughing…followed by a silence wherein Lexie took out her phone and dialed her brother-in-law's number.

"Derek…I need a favor…"


	17. Wisdom

**A/N: So this is the longest chapter I have ever written to date...hope you all enjoy it! _Review_ and let me know what you think! And again, thank you all for your wonderful support!**

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Derek flew in the next day after Lexie sent him Jeremy's scans and they spoke via conference phone in the office. She explained the case to him and told him all the details she knew from his tests, scans, and examining him herself with all the things to look for that Derek told her beforehand. From what the initial exam told them, the case was not completely lost and there was some hope for Jeremy. Her brother-in-law wanted an in person exam of Jeremy, so Lexie met him at the airport to pick him up, hugging him as best she could with her belly in the way.

"You look great," he complimented, motioning to her stomach.

Lexie smiled. "Thanks. And thank you for coming all the way out here."

"Well you know me, I like the tough cases," he said, grabbing his bag to leave the airport with her.

Going out of the airport terminal, Lexie made her way to the parking garage and unlocked her car before getting in. Derek put his bag in the back before getting in on the passenger side of the car. Now that her brother-in-law was here, Lexie felt like her patient stood a real chance of making it if Derek believed he could operate. She had seen miracles happen in Derek's operating room, so she knew it was completely possible that he would walk away alright from this surgery.

"So…I heard you barked at Dr. Warren," Derek said after a while, chuckling as they went toward the hospital.

"I may have said some demanding things," she admitted sheepishly as she drove. "But he's kind of an ass and he wanted to leave the patient to die without even trying to save him. He basically told me to find out if he was an organ donor from the family."

Derek nodded. "You did the right thing, advocating for your patient."

"I've already spoke with Chief Hernandez at Mass Gen and she's giving you operating privileges if you decide that this is operable," she went on, changing the topic a little.

"As soon as I evaluate him, if he's operable, I'll take him in right away," Derek said, looking at the scans she sent him on his phone from yesterday. "Are there updated scans from this morning?"

"They're in the folder in my bag," she replied, nodding to her purse in the floor board of the car on his side.

While Derek looked over the new scans, Lexie drove down the highway and to the hospital before parking in her usual spot near the entrance. They got out and went inside before she pulled on her lab coat and identification card, leading Derek down the hall to the elevators. Those lead up to the Neuro floor, which was where Jeremy was being kept for the time being. She walked down to the third room on the left, knocking lightly before stepping in, Derek behind her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Atkins, this is Dr. Derek Shepherd from Seattle Grace-Mercy West hospital in Washington. He's one of the leading neurosurgeons in the country," she introduced him, motioning to Derek beside her. "He's here to look at Jeremy's case and see if he can help."

"He is our only child…please help him," Mrs. Atkins pleaded, still holding her son's hand.

"I will do all I can to help," Derek said gently, moving over to examine Jeremy. He checked responsiveness of his pupils as well as a few other reflexive tests that would determine brain functioning. "Your son's case is very serious, but I'm going to get some updated scans and come up with a plan from there. If I decide to operate, do I have your permission to do so?"

The parents nodded and let the doctors move their son's bed to take him down for another MRI while Lexie followed Derek out of the room. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he walked and looked at the scans from that morning. He was formulating a plan in his head. That much was certain from the look he had on his face, which was one Lexie had seen several times. When they arrived down in Radiology, Lexie sat down while they were moving Jeremy into the machine. The images began to come up not long after they started, coming up on the screens in the room. Even in just the few hours from the last scan taken, Lexie could see the bleeding was increasing and needed immediate attention to relieve the pressure on his brain.

"Book an OR immediately," Derek said, keeping his eyes on the screens in front of him, like he was figuring out a puzzle. It was one of the many looks he got when he was concentrating and coming up with a game plan for a surgery. "You're scrubbing in with me, Lexie."

She nodded and went to get the operating room booked, making sure it was exactly how Derek liked it and was used to back home, and grabbed her scrub cap and a mask. Before she went to the operating floor, she stopped by the maternity floor to tell Lucy that they were taking Jeremy into surgery so she would at least know that they were trying to save his life. After that, she went upstairs and began to scrub in with Derek.

"Does he have a real chance?" she asked as she scrubbed her hands and arms meticulously.

"If we can get the bleeding under control and successfully clip the aneurysm without it rupturing, then yes," he told her while he finished up scrubbing his hands.

Lexie bobbed her head up and down and followed him into the operating room, getting gowned up and her gloves put on before they approached the table. The patient was already put under anesthesia, so he was ready to go and prepped already.

"Alright, it's a beautiful day to save lives," Derek said, smiling through his mask. "Let's get started."

Hearing those words gave Lexie hope as they began the surgery. Derek really was an artist of sorts as he worked calmly and collectively on Jeremy's brain, explaining what he was doing as he cut and began to control the bleeders. Standing by, she watched carefully, taking mental notes of his technique. Since Derek was the best in the country, she had missed learning under his careful guidance. He worked quickly to control the bleeding and swelling before the monitor began to sound in distress as Jeremy's stats dropped suddenly, indicating something was happening or going wrong.

"Damn it," he cursed, looking down as another bleeder began to pool with blood. "Suction."

Lexie suctioned out the area while Derek worked feverishly to locate the new bleed and fix it before it became worse. He kept working while Lexie looked on and suctioned when necessary to clear the field. The minor bleed was brought under control and Jeremy's stats went back up, allowing Lexie to breathe again. Times like now were tough for her because she was emotionally involved and invested in her patient's case. That was something she hadn't been able to separate in her professional life yet, but she was working on it.

"Now we'll attempt to clip the aneurysm and save his life," Derek said, moving a little to position himself better to go after it.

This part was going to be the riskiest part of the operation and the most likely to kill the patient if they weren't careful and did everything exactly right. She knew the risks associated with this surgery, but also that doing nothing would guarantee death for Jeremy. And if there was anyone that could do this and save his life, it was Derek Shepherd. For the next hour, she watched her brother-in-law work in clearing out the field and deciphering where all the major arteries were that fed into the aneurysm that was going to potentially kill their patient. But when Derek found what he was looking for, he smiled.

"Do the honors, Dr. Grey?" he asked, finally looking up at her.

"Me?" she asked, stunned since this was something she hadn't expected.

He nodded. "This was your find and your surgery, so you should do the honors and save this young man's life."

Lexie grinned brightly as she took the clamp and successfully clipped the aneurysm as everyone in the room applauded. She felt good to have been able to do this…to give Lucy and Jeremy the chance that they deserved to be happy. And for Lucy to tell him how she felt, which was something everyone deserved to be able to do. Once the surgery was done, she and Derek scrubbed out while another resident closed up and bandaged Jeremy's head up.

"You did good in there," Derek praised, looking over at Lexie. "This was a good save. One of the times we get to say we won."

"Thanks…I really knew he deserved a chance and you gave that to him," she said, throwing away her mask. "He has a girlfriend…or something like it. She's having his baby and he deserved to see that baby born."

"Well, pending recovery, he'll live a good and normal life long enough to raise that child and probably see grandchildren," Derek said, smiling as he walked out of the scrub room to the hall, Lexie following after.

Lexie looked at her watch and realized they had been in surgery for almost seven hours. "Are you hungry? We could go get something to eat at this place close by that makes amazing burgers."

"I could go for a burger," her brother-in-law said, grinning.

"So can your nephew," she laughed, going toward the resident locker room to get her things. "I'll change and meet you out front in a few?"

Derek nodded and went to change himself while Lexie went to the resident locker room and changed into her jeans and maternity shirt, pulling on her flats and finding her purse in her locker. It was comfortable to be in her own clothes again, so she took a minute just to sit and relax as her son started waking up and kicking around. She checked her phone and saw a missed text from Mark and replied, telling him she'd been in surgery with Derek and that she would talk to him soon. Shoving her phone in her purse, she left the locker room and made her way to the front of the hospital where Derek was waiting.

"Hey…I'm ready to go," she told him, smiling as she took out her keys and unlocked the car on their way out to the parking lot. "This place also has the best fries…and that isn't just the pregnancy talking."

"I think I like it already," Derek grinned as he got in the car. "Boston is pretty nice though, I can see why you chose here to come to school."

"It's a great place to live, regardless of what age you are," she replied, starting the car and heading to the diner.

Dinner was great with Derek as they talked and laughed about lots of different things that she remembered from her time in Seattle, including the time Meredith made her eggs and she ate them anyway because it was a nice gesture. They Skyped with Meredith for a few minutes, telling her all the details of the cool surgery and how Lexie got to clip the aneurysm, which was the coolest thing she'd ever done in surgery with her brother-in-law so far. It reminded her of how much she missed Seattle and learning under the best Neurosurgeon in the country. But she had made her decision in moving out here, though she was seriously starting to question that. As they were finishing up, her pager started to beep and she looked down.

"Oh God…911 page for Jeremy," she gasped, getting up as fast as she could manage with her belly before she and Derek made a b-line back to the hospital from the diner.

When they arrived, Jeremy was in cardiac arrest and they were trying to resuscitate him, which wasn't working until they pushed one more round of epi and shocked him, stabilizing his heart. Lucy was in the room, watching in horror as a nurse held her up, so Lexie told them to get her out so she didn't see any more of this.

"What the hell happened?" she demanded, looking at the other residents in the room.

"His brain started swelling without any warning," one of the second year residents replied, looking at her. "We paged as soon as we could."

"Prep him for surgery, now," Derek demanded, examining Jeremy's eyes before looking at Lexie. "He's bleeding out again."

"Damn it," she murmured as she immediately went to change into her scrubs.

Surgery prep took only minutes as they rushed him to the operating room again, Derek and Lexie scrubbing in quickly before going in. The bleeding was everywhere and they couldn't contain it fast enough before something else started bleeding. She and Derek worked for over an hour and a half before Jeremy had coded so many times they couldn't bring him back.

"Time of death…1:47," Derek said, stepping back as Lexie walked out of the scrub room, throwing her mask down and ripping off her scrub cap.

Tears were already forming in her eyes as she knew she would have to tell Lucy that the love of her life died before she could tell him she loved him. And that was the most gut-wrenching feeling in the world for any surgeon, but especially Lexie in this instance because Lucy was pregnant and Jeremy had made some mistakes along the way too. It was way too personal for her as she paced the scrub room.

"I can tell the family, Lex," Derek offered as he came in, pulling off his mask and scrub cap. "You don't have to do that."

She shook her head. "It isn't his parents. It's his girlfriend and the mother of his child…she was in the accident with him. She…I have to…she needs to know too."

"We'll go together…you won't be alone in telling her," he promised, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Walking out of the scrub room, she and Derek went to the waiting room where they informed the family. As expected, his parents were broken and had to get some space to grieve while Lexie went to the maternity floor with Derek to tell Lucy. It broke her heart to see Lucy distraught over losing the one person that meant anything to her, but she held it together in the room for her before stepping out with Derek and losing it herself. Her brother-in-law took note and gathered her things, helping her get home by driving instead of letting her. When they arrived back at her place, she went in and sat down on the couch.

"Mark tells me…he misses me," she finally said after a few moments of silence between them, already feeling the tears filling her eyes. "And…I miss him. I really, really miss him. But seeing that today made it really hit me. I still love him and have been so in love with him, but I can't tell him. Every time I try, I…nothing comes out and I freeze. Everything is…terrible and I don't want him to have an accident or something awful happen…and I never get to tell him I love him."

Derek reached over and rubbed her back. "I know…it's difficult for you, given all Mark has done," he began. "But we're all human and make mistakes. Some of us make gigantic mistakes, like Mark, but he never intended to hurt you. That much I know is true."

The tears running down Lexie's face were hot and stung her eyes, but she looked at Derek. He was one of the wisest people she knew and she trusted his judgment in a lot of things, especially when it came to Mark most of the time.

"I just…I don't want to be hurt again," she added, her lip quivering on the edge of a sob that she didn't want to let out. "He left me behind twice…and didn't think to ask me what I wanted with Sloane or how I felt about him getting Callie pregnant, but now we're having this baby together and…I can't not love him. It isn't in me to hate him like I wanted to when I moved away."

"I know you don't want to be hurt again, but sometimes we have to open ourselves up to that hurt…in order for the risk to be worth it," he said, looking at her. "Meredith and I…we were like a broken record for a while until it just clicked. Now we're married and looking into adopting a baby."

Lexie paused. "You're adopting the baby?"

"Yeah…" Derek smiled. "A little girl from Africa…one of the orphans Karev brought over for treatment. Her name is Zola and she's about ten-months-old now. Meredith was resistant to the idea, but I think she's coming around."

"That's great for you guys!" Lexie exclaimed, feeling her mood lighten a little. And the realization hit her that if her sister and brother-in-law could work things out and settle down after so many mess ups and fights that didn't even matter in the long run, maybe she could too…if she gave that a chance with Mark.

"Yeah, so things may take a while to work out, but if something is meant to be…it'll come around," he told her. "If you truly want to tell Mark how you feel, then you should do it. Don't be afraid to take that chance because things might fall through. Take a lesson from your patients…don't wait. Because you never know what might happen."

Lexie took those words to heart as she thought about what she had been doing out here in Boston. She had come here to run away, to get away from the idea that Mark Sloan was fathering another woman's child while she had been the one who wanted to do that…just on her own time. And now she was having his son, they were in this limbo state of talking but keeping things casual, and she still was desperately in love with him. All it had taken was one patient to show her that she still loved Mark so much she couldn't imagine life without him. And as she hugged Derek and slipped into her room for the night, she knew that the decisions that lay ahead of her were tough ones, but something she would need to do for not only her future, but her son's.


	18. Coming Home

**A/N: You guys seriously rock with all the feedback! To answer a question I was asked, I try to update at least every other day if possible with my work/life schedule, but sometimes it isn't possible. Yet, I try to do it for you guys! _Review_ and let me know what you think of the next chapter!**

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Lexie's heart-to-heart with Derek really did open up her mind and heart about Mark. The situation with Lucy and Jeremy had also opened up her eyes to her own with Mark and how similar they really were. Jeremy had hurt Lucy in the past and yet she was able to forgive him and move past it to loving him again. And the accident had pushed her to realizing what was important, though Lucy didn't get the chance to tell Jeremy how she felt before they lost him in the second surgery to save his life. That had a big impact on Lexie. Even though Mark had hurt her in the past, she was the one who ran away from him rather than trying to work things out together. She literally ran to the other side of the country to get away from him, but her heart had never left Seattle. Not when the man she loved was still there. And now that she knew for sure that she was in love with him and always would be, she knew what she had to do.

Lexie Grey was going home.

Getting everything packed and in order took about a week of organizing, but by the time everything was settled and she had resigned from Mass General, she was ready to move and go home to Seattle. She had called Owen Hunt, who was more than happy to give Lexie her job back at the hospital. No one was to tell Mark she was coming back as she wanted to surprise him. She made arrangements for her friend, Erin, to pick her up from the airport and take her back to Derek and Meredith's house where she could rest and get ready. Arizona was also taking over her prenatal care and was going to be her son's pediatrician when he was born. And until she knew what she was doing, she was going to live with her sister for the time being.

Her last day in Boston was bittersweet as she told her interns goodbye and officially resigned her position before going to board her plane to Seattle. It felt surreal to be going home again, but she knew it was time to go back and try to work on her relationship with Mark, if there was one left to have. As she boarded early, since she had priority due to her pregnancy, she got seated and comfortable while the other passengers began to board.

"Is this 15 E?" a young woman asked, pointing to the seat next to Lexie.

"Oh yeah, it is," she replied, moving to let the girl in to sit down.

"Thanks," the younger woman said. "I'm glad I made the flight in time. I almost missed it."

Lexie smiled. "Something important in Seattle?"

"My boyfriend," she smiled back. "He's been deployed for ten months and I'm surprising him by meeting his plane in Seattle."

"That's really sweet of you," Lexie commented, grinning at her neighbor.

"I missed him a lot…being an Army girlfriend isn't easy, but I'm so proud of him," she continued. "Oh, I'm Melanie, by the way."

"Lexie."

"So…what's bringing you to Seattle, Lexie?" Melanie asked as the plane was moving toward the runway.

"I'm going home." Lexie looked down and rubbed her stomach where her little boy was kicking. "It's something I needed to do before this little one arrives."

"Is someone waiting for you in Seattle?" Melanie asked.

That thought made Lexie smile a little. "Sort of…it's complicated. But I'm going home to see if there's still something to be had between us; More than just the fact that I'm having his baby."

"You love this guy?"

"I do…he is everything I never thought I'd want or need," she said, realizing how serious that was. Lexie never planned on falling in love with someone older than her or someone that had children with other women, but Mark…he wormed her way into his heart without her realizing it until it was too late.

"Sounds like real love," Melanie commented, smiling a little.

She nodded in agreement, knowing that her love for Mark was about as true as any love could be. It was the truest of loves that she had ever known in her life and made any other guy she had been with irrelevant.

"So…when are you due?" Melanie asked, changing topic a little bit.

"At the end of October," she replied, rubbing her stomach a little. "Right now it's all about making sure he's ready to come out and that his lungs are mature."

Lexie was quite proud of her son and knew that she had come a long way since the beginning of her pregnancy. When she first learned she was pregnant, she hadn't wanted to be a mother this young in her career and especially not with Mark Sloan's baby after they had broken up and she had moved three thousand miles to get the hell away from him. Now she was looking forward to the birth of her son in just a few more months, though she was still nervous about how it would affect her career and ability to be a mother too.

"Well congratulations on your little one," Melanie said happily.

Lexie thanked her before settling into the flight for the duration of it, relaxing and rubbing her stomach as her son was kicking around. She hoped he would settle down soon so she could get some rest before arriving in Seattle. When the cart came around, she got some juice and peanuts before resting her head against the chair. After a few minutes, her baby boy had settled down enough for her to get some sleep, which was a relief to Lexie as she was exhausted from packing and preparing to leave.

When the plane landed, Lexie grabbed her carry-on bag before getting off and walking out to the terminal. Her luggage was at the baggage claim downstairs from where they had unloaded the plane, so she made her way down the escalators to see Erin waiting for her. Going over, she hugged her friend and smiled.

"Welcome home," Erin greeted, pulling back with a smile. "How was your flight?"

"Long," Lexie laughed, grabbing her suitcase from the carousel as it came around. "But it's good to be home again."

"I bet…and just in time to get ready for that precious baby of yours. So the handsome baby daddy doesn't know you're coming, right?"

Lexie shook her head in reply. "Not a clue. I didn't want to tell him that I'm coming home because I wanted to um…surprise him."

"I think that's pretty romantic and adorable," Erin grinned, taking Lexie's bigger bag from her.

"I just hope I didn't wait too long to tell him," she said, going out from the airport to Erin's car in the garage. "I walked away from him twice when things got difficult for us."

"Honey, the man flew to Boston just because he heard a rumor that you were pregnant – he is still in love with you," he friend assured her as she put the suitcase in the trunk of the car.

In that moment, Lexie was so grateful to have Erin as a friend. It reassured her that she still had a chance and that she hadn't lost all hope for her relationship and love for Mark. Their drive to her sister's house was relatively short though and they arrived about fifteen minutes later. Lexie thanked her and went into the house with her bags while Erin left with the promise of coffee or lunch sometime soon.

"Mer?" she called, hoping her sister was home.

"In here!" she heard from the other room.

Walking into the kitchen, she found her sister making some toast while Derek was drinking coffee at the bar. Oh how she had missed the caffeine. And the wonderful smell that accompanied the dark liquid that was once her lifeline as a resident before her pregnancy progressed into her second trimester and she cut herself off completely to help her son's growth.

"Hey…welcome home!" Derek greeted.

"Thanks…you guys are both home…day off?" she asked, grabbing a banana from the bar before peeling it and sitting down.

Her older sister nodded. "We're going up to see Zola in a few hours, but I didn't know your plans for the day. Mark is actually home with Sofia today while Callie and Arizona are at work."

"I'd love to meet her," she said, looking over at Meredith. "Derek told me she was gorgeous."

"She is quite the little heart-breaker already too," Derek added proudly. "And tough as nails. Already survived surgery twice."

Lexie smiled. Gaining a new niece was exciting to her and she knew Meredith and Derek would be amazing parents to that little girl. Plus they had been so supportive of her while she was in Boston and pregnant before Mark knew. She was so appreciative of them being there when she and the baby needed it the most.

After eating a little bit of breakfast, Lexie went upstairs to her room and laid down to rest, bringing her hand over her belly while the baby was moving around. It was habit to sleep like this as of late since she liked feeling her baby boy moving around, knowing he was alive and healthy inside of her. She slept about an hour and a half before getting up and showering, changing into a pair of maternity jeans and a cute top. Her hair fell down over her shoulders, but she put a few bobby pins in to hold her bangs back, keeping them out of her face. She smoothed her shirt over her belly and took a deep breath.

"Here we go, baby boy," she said, looking at her stomach.

Her trip to the hospital was really good as hse got to meet Zola and ran into a few people who were surprised to not only see her back, but also that she was pregnant. Alex surprisingly wished her well and even asked about the baby, showing a lot of maturity on his part. Apparently working in Peds really had made him more human and less of an asshole. That was quite a change for him and she was proud of her ex. Owen Hunt also officially reinstated her as a surgical resident at Seattle Grace-Mercy West hospital. Effective immediately, she would be beginning her fourth year of residency.

At the end of her visit, she told Meredith and Derek she was heading out and that she would either be home later or not come at all. Callie had already left to pick up Sofia, so Mark would officially be home alone. While she was nervous, she knew that she wanted to do this…it was the whole reason she had moved back home to begin with. She drove from the hospital to Mark's apartment building, heart pounding the entire time. When she parked, she took a deep breath and got out, walking in and going up the elevator to his floor. She approached his door and knocked three times. The lock clicked a few moments later and he answered the door, shirtless. Lexie smiled and held up her toothbrush.

"Hey…" she said softly.


	19. Unexpected

**A/N: Thank you all for being so patient with me! I've been rather busy with work lately and preparing for my grandfather to come home (he had a stroke in March and we're getting the house ready for him). But I'm still working on this story, I promise. _Review_ and tell me what you think of this next installment!**

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Today had started off like any other day off for Mark. He had spent the day taking care of Sofia while Callie and Robbins were at work, watching a game or two on television while explaining the rules to Sofia, though she wouldn't understand them really. And after Callie came to pick her up, he was getting ready to shower when a knock at the door caught his attention. Thinking it was Callie or possibly Robbins coming back for something they forgot, he came over and opened the door, but got an even bigger surprise. Lexie was standing at his door, holding up her toothbrush.

"Hi…" he replied in shock.

"The…the uh black panties don't fit anymore or I would have them too," she laughed nervously.

You're here…" he said in awe. This was really happening…Lexie was on his doorstep and this wasn't a dream.

"I love you," she blurted out, catching him even more by surprise. "Oh God…that just…wow…I just blurted that out didn't I? I love you…I do. And I have been trying so hard not to, but I can't not love you. You know, getting away from here was great because Boston didn't have you. Or guys having babies with their lesbian best friends. But I was never going to be happy there because I…I love you. I'm _so_ in love with you and it's not just because of the baby. It's…I…it's like you're in me…not literally…well sort of because the baby, but…you're infecting me with something I can't escape. You're in my bloodstream. And I can't eat. I can't sleep. I can't _breathe_. I love you all the time. And I'm scared to be hurt again because we've tried this twice and it didn't work. But I…love…you."

Mark stood there, completely unable to speak as he found himself faced by the woman he loved and had always loved since the moment he really got to know her. For weeks, he had been trying to figure out a way to win her back and now she was here at his door, pouring out her heart to him and telling him everything he ever wanted to hear from her.

"Mark?" Her soft voice brought him back to reality.

Without a second thought or hesitation, he moved forward and kissed her, cupping her cheek tenderly. He had missed this so much as his tongue gently tangled with hers. They had kissed like this once in Boston, but the last time before then was before Callie told him she was pregnant, when they were still a couple before they broke up a second time. All of the pent-up emotion that both of them felt was there and they only broke apart when they needed air.

"I love you. I have always loved you and will always be in love with you," he told her, brushing his thumb along her cheek.

"I came home because…I didn't want to be away from you anymore. So…I'm here, to stay."

Mark smiled softly and brought her in the apartment, reminding himself that this was actually happening. She had shown up at his place many times before, including the first night they were ever together, but this meant so much more to him. Lexie was home…and that was the best thing that could have happened because she would now be close enough to touch, take care of, and worry about from here instead of three thousand miles away in Boston. Though he didn't know what this meant for the two of them, he was just happy to have her here.

"Look, I know that this is really sudden and I kind of just…I dunno, dropped this on you without any kind of warning, but I don't want to rush thing either," she said, turning to face him as she came into the apartment. "But we rushed things too fast before and it didn't work, so I don't want to do that again."

She had a point. The last two times they were in a relationship, he rushed things far too fast and tried to make her a step-mother twice and a grandmother too, which just didn't work for someone who was sixteen years his junior. But she was the mother of his child now and he loved her, so he knew he would do whatever it took to make her happy and secure.

"We'll take this one step at a time," he promised, looking at her. "Where are you staying?"

"For now, with Meredith and Derek until I figure out what I'm doing," she replied, absentmindedly holding her stomach with one hand while talking with the other. "But I do want to get my own place before the baby comes."

He nodded. "And have you talked with Hunt about your job here?"

"He gave me the position back without any fight," she said, smiling a little. "I think he missed me, maybe a little."

"Well you're the best damn resident there is," he laughed, feeling at ease for the first time in weeks. "You're already way ahead of the game as it is, Little Grey."

She seemed to smile at his use of her nickname, which made him smile too. It was something he had used to tell the difference between her and her sister in the beginning, but evolved into something so much more special between the two of them that only they understood. People didn't get that they loved each other or why they did, but that didn't matter to Mark really because he knew how he felt about Lexie and how she felt about him, which was more than enough for him.

"I'm just going to take it a little at a time until the baby gets here," she went on, rubbing her stomach and sitting down on the couch.

Lexie was over twenty-six weeks now, which was absolutely crazy to him since he had found out just a few weeks prior. And it seemed like their son was growing every single day that he saw her on the video chat, but to see her in person really solidified everything for him about impending fatherhood again. There was so much respect for her as well, since she was the one carrying his child inside of her. A baby she chose to have instead of getting rid of it like Addison once had with his child years ago.

"How is he doing?" he asked, coming over and sitting beside her.

Taking his hand, she put it on her stomach and moved it over to where his son was wiggling around. "You tell me," she laughed, looking at him.

"He's a strong boy," he mused happily, thinking about how his son was going to be so handsome and strong, like all the Sloan boys, but well-mannered like the Greys.

"He's measuring about a week ahead, give or take, but the doctor said that was normal…and I know it is for someone who is as small as I am," she went on, moving her hand up higher on her belly while Mark's remained in the spot where his boy was kicking around firmly.

"Well he's a Sloan…we're always ahead of the curve, just like the Grey family," he chuckled, sitting back a little bit. It felt so…natural to have Lexie here again, right where she and him had once spent so much time together when they were a couple. All the mornings he was late for work because she kept pulling him back into bed for one more kiss or when she would steal his t-shirts to sleep in because they were more comfortable than her own pajamas. All the little things he found so alluring and sexy about her happened or came about when they were living together or here together.

"Mark, do you think I could stay here tonight?" she asked after a moment of silence. "I just don't want to drive back to Meredith's and it's been a long day of traveling for me. I'll even just crash on the couch."

"Of course," he said, smiling. "But you're not sleeping on the couch. You'll take my bed because it's comfortable and has all the pillows you like. And I've got an extra set of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt."

"You know me so well," she said, smiling at him a little sleepily.

Mark got up and helped her up, letting her go into the room before going to make himself comfortable on the couch since he didn't want to intrude. Though they had shared a kiss, just as they had in Boston, he wasn't sure what they were right now and didn't want to push the envelope with her right now. He spread a blanket on the couch and found a pillow, putting it on the end he liked best while he heard the water running in the bathroom, assuming she was washing her face. He sat down after pulling off his shirt and was getting ready for bed when she appeared in the doorway wearing his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt of his that hugged her growing belly just right.

"You're not going to sleep in here, are you?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest while she looked at him and then the little set up he had going in here.

"Yeah…I was going to let you have the bed and some space," he replied.

"Mark, you've seen me naked more times than I can count. I'm pregnant…and I want a human pillow right now," she said firmly. "Come sleep with me, please?"

He knew she meant that in a totally non-sexual way, but it still tugged at his heart because he missed her so much. Even the simplest human contact with her when they fell asleep in each other's arms was something he craved while she was in Boston. The pleading in her eyes and her voice didn't take long to win him over…he could never say no to this woman even if he tried. He loved her and wanted nothing but to make her happy for the rest of his life…which was what he had told Callie before.

Without so much as a single hesitation or refusal, Mark got up and walked toward the bedroom with Lexie. She climbed in the bed on her usual side and he got in on his, amazed at how easily they could slip back into something like this without even thinking about it. When they were both comfortable, she slipped into his arms and rested her head on his chest, falling asleep in minutes, leaving Mark to his thoughts. She was curled against him with her belly against his, where he could feel the movements of their son. Gently and carefully, he placed his hand against her belly.

"I don't know what kind of father I'm going to be to you," he whispered, realizing this was the first time he really felt connected to his son. "But I swear to you I'll be better than my old man…you'll never have to wonder if I love or care about you."

And that was a vow that Mark knew that he would keep for his son. For all of his children. The Sloans were notorious for having children and leaving them to nannies or otherwise, but he wasn't going to do that. Not with his children and especially not when he wanted a family so desperately.


	20. Back To Normal

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for your patience! Everything with my family is a little crazy right now, so I'm still working on updating this as regularly as I can. _Review_ and let me know your thoughts!**

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Within a few days of coming home to Seattle, Lexie was back at work and getting into the swing of things at Seattle Grace-Mercy West again. Admittedly, it felt good to be home again and she was so glad that things were going back to normal – well as normal as they could be with Lexie being pregnant and hormonal. Everyone was welcoming though and she was more than thankful for it. But the best part was having her mentor back. Derek had taken her under his wing once more and she loved learning from him.

As she was prepping Derek's charts one afternoon, she looked up to see her brother-in-law coming over, looking pretty haggard.

"Hey…long night with Zola?" she asked, figuring the baby kept him and Mer up pretty much most of the night.

"No…I wasn't home actually," he said, avoiding her gaze.

"Oh…you okay?" Derek usually was a lot more chipper in the mornings, so she knew something was completely off this morning since he was acting down.

Derek hesitated for a moment, as if he wasn't sure about telling her. In that moment of hesitation, she knew it was more than likely about her sister. Or Mark, but it was more likely that it was about Meredith.

"Meredith…tampered with our trial. She switched the envelopes so that Adele Webber would for sure get the treatment," he said in a low voice so only show would hear since they were near the nurses' station.

Lexie covered her mouth in shock, completely surprised that Meredith would do something like that when so much was on the line. "Oh my God," she gasped. "What…what's going to happen?"

"It's done…finished," Derek curtly replied, shaking his head. "Everything is compromised and my reputation is going to be shot to hell for any further trials. Meredith has potentially ruined both of our careers in a single decision."

"Why would she risk that?" she asked, knowing it wasn't like her sister.

"Because Meredith has no sense of right and wrong…there is no clear cut black and white for her in anything. Everything is negotiable to her," he said, sighing and leaning against the desk.

"I'm…so sorry," she said, unsure of what she could even say right now. "Can I do anything to help at all?"

Derek shook his head. "It's just going to happen and we have to ride it out, but I'm not even sure I can trust my own wife again."

"You're staying at the trailer again, aren't you?" she asked, already knowing her answer. When things got bad in life, personally or professionally, Derek always went running for that trailer…it was his quiet place where he could think and process.

He nodded. "It's near the land with the house…if there's still going to be a house after all this is over with."

"What about Zola?" she asked, realizing separation might put their adoption in jeopardy.

"I'm not sure bringing a baby into this mess is the best idea anyway, even though I love Zo more than anything and I know Meredith does too," he sighed.

"You're her parents," Lexie reminded him gently. "And you love Meredith. You once told me that we all make mistakes and that no one is perfect. I'm sure she didn't intentionally mess up the trial to mess it up, because she knows how important this was to you both, but it was Dr. Webber's wife…she just…she wanted to help."

"She let herself get emotionally involved, which I should have seen coming when we admitted Adele into the trial to begin with," he went on.

"That's something we all wrestle with as doctors because we're human," she said. "I know I still do, especially now that I'm pregnant."

Throughout her career, Lexie had a hard time separating herself emotionally from her patients sometimes…which wasn't always a bad thing because it made her fight harder for the cases that seemed hopeless. But at the same time, it could wind up a bad thing…like it had with Izzie Stevens and Denny. From what people said, she let herself get involved and ended up cutting his LVAD wire to get him bumped up on the transplant list. While it was okay to get involved with caring about your patients, there was a line you couldn't cross. You had to reign yourself back from those types of situations.

"I guess I just need time," Derek conceded, shaking his head.

She nodded and opened a chart up. "Well…we have a tumor to look at today," she offered, changing topics.

"Now that sounds tempting," he grinned. "Let's go to work, Little Grey."

Lexie spent the rest of her day with Derek, prepping the plan for a tumor removal. The tumor itself was beautiful, like a piece of art that manifested itself in someone's brain. She and Derek moved it to a 3D scan and looked at every vessel attached from the tumor to the patient's brain, talking about how best to remove it without too much damage to functioning. That was a challenge for both her and Derek as they looked the tumor over several times before deciding a plan of action based on research Lexie had done and experience Derek had with similar cases in the past.

"Go home and get some rest to scrub in tomorrow morning," he told her, getting up and heading out. "I need my best resident in there with me bright and early."

Lexie grinned and got up, knowing who she wanted to tell about this right away about this. She went out of the room and down the hall to find Mark. He was supposed to be coming out of surgery soon, so she knew she could catch him. The last the board said was that he was only scrubbing in on two surgeries today, one of which was happening right now and about to end or just ended, so he would be scrubbing out. Walking up to the surgical floor, she saw him at the nurses' station and came over with a grin on her face.

"Guess who is scrubbing in on the most amazing tumor removal tomorrow?" she asked, smirking at him as she leaned against the nurses' station.

"Hmm…I'd say Derek," he chuckled and winked.

"Mark!"

He laughed again. "Derek's letting you scrub in, huh?"

She nodded and smiled brightly. "It's this amazing and intricate tumor on the frontal lobe. About the size of a golf ball or slightly bigger, so it'll be difficult to remove."

"Sounds impressive," he said, smiling as he turned to face her. "Derek got his plan yet?"

"We just put it together and booked the OR for tomorrow morning, so he is sending me home for the night to get some rest for the surgery in the morning."

"Well it just so happens that after I do post-ops right now, I'm free for the evening too," he winked. "Go on a date with me?"

"You totally planned that!" she laughed, realizing how perfect that was put together for her.

"That…is not entirely true," he countered with a smirk. "The tumor guy just happened to come in the hospital. The rest of it…just kind of lent itself to me."

Rolling her eyes, Lexie laughed and shook her head.

"So…is that a yes?"

"Okay – pick me up from Meredith's at eight tonight," she said, grinning before giving him a quick kiss on the lips and set off down the hall.

They were taking things slow and so far, she really was enjoying that. They had only been on one date in the last few days where he made her dinner and they watched a movie at his place, which turned into her just falling asleep in his arms. It wasn't much of a real date, per say, not that she minded because she was comfortable with Mark. He was always warm and inviting, especially to sleep on or against. But having a real date meant a lot to her because it was taking another step toward getting back to what they once had. And that was what they were trying to do, ultimately.

Lexie left the hospital and came home to the frat house, going up to her room to grab her things to shower. No one else was home right now, so she knew she had the peace and quiet to get ready without people barging in the bathroom on her. The baby became really active as she got under the spray of the water before relaxing. Her belly was sticking out and she could see her son moving around inside of her, his foot or possibly his hand rippling across her skin. Touching her hand to her bare skin, she smiled and felt him kick.

"Hi baby boy," she murmured softly to him. "I know you don't have a name yet, but Mommy is working on that. I promise."

A name for her son was something that escaped her since every name she thought of didn't sound right to her or didn't flow with his last name. But she hoped to find a name soon, though hearing Mark call him 'Little Man' was really adorable and warmed her heart each time she heard it. He had really stepped up and been there for her since finding out she was pregnant with their baby and she couldn't imagine doing this alone anymore with him here.

She showered quickly and got out before wrapping her big, fluffy towel around her body and walked over to the mirror that was on the other side of the bathroom. The reflection was blocked by the steam induced fog, but she wiped it off and scrunched her nose a little. Pregnancy had made her face a lot rounder than what it had been before, but she knew that was expected. Her chest was also bigger, not that she was complaining about that at all. Turning to the side, she ran her hand over her belly so the towel was taut against the shape of it. She had grown a lot in the weeks since Mark found out about her pregnancy. And though she knew it was natural and to be expected, the weight gain still wasn't fun.

Sighing, she went to her room and started to get dressed. A black and red maternity dress was what she picked to wear since she didn't get to dress up often due to practically living in scrubs at the hospital. She slid the dress on and fixed it so it fit correctly over her chest and belly, covering all the right places. Her heels surprisingly still fit her swollen feet as she slipped them on. When she was dressed, she went back to the bathroom again and dried her hair, curling it a little so it framed her face before doing her makeup. Mark didn't like a lot of it, so she did just the basics and added a little bit of pink lip gloss. Then she was ready. Her clock read that it was just before eight, so when she heard the doorbell downstairs, she smiled and came down, opening the door to Mark. He had a button down shirt with the top two buttons undone and a blazer on, which made him look so handsome.

"You look beautiful," he said, looking at her with a smile.

"Thank you," she smiled, blushing a little.

"Shall we?" he asked, holding out his arm for her to take.

Lexie took his arm and closed the door behind her, going out to the car to begin their date.


	21. Date Night

**A/N: Hello my darlings! This chapter is rated M...just so you're prepared. Hope you like it and let me know! _Review_!**

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Once they were in the car and on their way, Lexie relaxed a little bit and kept her hand resting on her baby bump. It occurred to her that Mark was never the type of guy to go on a date with a pregnant woman, which said a lot. Granted, she wasn't pregnant with just any baby, it still wasn't what she had ever pictured Mark doing when they first met and she got to know him. Their relationship was so tangled and complicated sometimes and others, when she was just at his place falling asleep in his arms, it was so easy.

"So…where are we going?" she asked, curious as to his plan for the night since he had apparently planned all of this out without her even knowing.

"That is a surprise," he replied coyly, avoiding her question.

Rolling her eyes, she laughed. "Always the surprising one, Mark Sloan."

"Actually, I think you take the cake on surprises, Little Grey," he contradicted with a laugh, nodding to her stomach as he drove.

"He was as much a bombshell to me as he was to you, believe me," she said, rubbing her stomach. "When I took the first pregnancy test, I was in complete disbelief. Then I realized that it had to be true after the next couple tests I took all came up positive."

"When I realized you were pregnant, I felt excited and nervous because you and I had left things so…unfinished and you were so angry with me. I had no idea how you would react to me when I came to Boston and ambushed you."

"I'm glad you came," she admitted as they came to a stop light.

"I am too," he said, smiling over at her.

They drove for another twenty minutes before pulling into the parking lot of one of Lexie's favorite restaurants in all of Seattle. She was honestly shocked that Mark remembered this place since it had been years since they had been. Looking over at him, she beamed.

"You remembered," she said, a little amazement evident in her voice.

"As if I could forget," he grinned, getting out and coming around to open her door for her and help her out of the car.

Lexie got out and stood up, fixing her dress before giving him a quick kiss. "You remember a lot."

"Only about you, Lex," he said, leading her in before they were seated.

Literally nothing about this place had changed, which brought back fond memories for her of past dates with Mark and the time they had spent together. She looked across the table and smiled at him genuinely. He was still so handsome, which she never doubted would change. And his eyes were still so blue and comforting to her, which reminded her that she hoped their son would have his blue eyes. Genetically, it was likely that he would have brown eyes since that was the dominate trait in the Grey family, but there was always the chance the recessive could take over and give their son the Sloan eyes.

"Are you excited about the surgery tomorrow?" he asked.

She grinned happily. "Yeah…it's the kind of tumor you only see a few times in your entire career in Neurosurgery. It's like…the spinal tumor Derek removed from Isaac."

"You guys are gonna do great," he replied proudly. "Just make sure you can take breaks when you can for your back."

"I'll be fine," she told him, knowing he was going to worry regardless of what she said or didn't say at this point. "Derek will take good care of me in surgery."

"He better or I'll kick his ass," he chortled, shaking his head with a smirk.

Lexie couldn't help but smile, knowing how close Derek and Mark were and had been since they were children. Since Mark hadn't really had a family growing up, Mrs. Shepherd had raised Mark as her own son. And Derek considered him a brother, which was why they looked out for each other and occasionally beat the crap out of one another when it was warranted.

"We don't need a repeat of the ass kicking you gave each other on the cat walk when you told him we were together in my intern year," she reminded him. "You broke your hand that time and Chief Webber almost killed both of you."

"That year was the year of a lot of stuff…breaking," he chuckled, giving her a knowing look.

Lexie blushed profusely at the mention of breaking Mark's penis. It had been the one and only time they had ever had such a serious sex injury in their relationship. "Yeah…that…that was an interesting year."

Their waitress came and took their order before giving them some privacy again. When she looked at Mark, she felt their son kicking around inside of her a little more, making her smile and move her hand to her stomach. He was more active when she was sitting or laying down these days, like the movement when she walked lulled him to sleep or something like it.

"I was thinking about something and wanted to ask you what you thought," Mark suddenly said, catching her attention once more.

"Okay…what is it?" she asked curiously. Mark had a way of springing things on her when she least expected it.

"The baby's name…well his middle name, actually. I was thinking we could make it Derek," he went on, looking at her. "If you don't want to, that's fine but I-"

"Mark," she interjected, reaching over to touch his hand. "I love that idea."

Derek was Mark's family as he was her own since he was married to her sister, though things were a little rocky right now between him and Meredith. And he had already been treating her like a little sister for years, so it was only fitting that they name their son after him in some way or another.

"Yeah?" he breathed in relief.

"He is just as much your brother as he is mine, if not more, so I think it's only right that our son shares part of his name with his Uncle Derek."

Mark grinned widely and squeezed her hand. This was the most involved he had ever been with any of his children before birth, so she knew how important all of it was to him. Lexie had wanted that for him right from the start, right when she found out she was pregnant and decided to keep her baby, but circumstances made it really difficult until recently when she told him she was pregnant. But everything was starting to get better and she knew how happy he really was.

Their dinner came out about thirty minutes later and they kept on chatting while they ate. Conversation was so easy with him, as it always had been. From the beginning, right when they started sleeping together, they had been able to talk and laugh with one another, which was something very unique to any of Mark's relationships.

"Have you thought about what you want when the baby is born?" he asked, taking a drink of water as they were eating.

"Like…a birth plan?" She looked up at him and saw his nod. "Well I was definitely going to have the baby at the hospital with Dr. Anderson delivering him. I want to try to go without the epidural, if at all possible, but that'll depend on how I feel when I'm actually in labor and want to rip my uterus out."

"And who do you want in the room when you deliver?" She could hear the hesitation in his voice as he asked.

"I want you there," she replied without hesitation. "You have to hold my hand and make me push when it's time, no matter how much I cry and don't want to; Or how much I yell at you for knocking me up."

He smiled. "I'll be there, Lex."

"And you cut the cord when he's here," she added as she remembered that as well. "He's your son so you need to do those things."

"I promise I will."

Lexie knew Mark would be a great father and already was in so many ways. She had seen him with his daughter, Sofia, and knew how gentle he was. Not to mention how dedicated he already was to both his youngest children. He was already buying things for the baby, including several sets of clothes, diapers, and even a swing for him. And even though he hadn't said anything to her, he had been looking into houses because his apartment was for a single guy. Or at least just a couple. Not a guy with two kids under the age of one.

"I also decided his last name. It's going to be Sloan," she said after a moment, nodding her head indefinitely.

"Just Sloan?" Mark arched his eyebrow. "No hyphenated Grey-Sloan?"

"Nope," Lexie shook her head. "He is going to be a Sloan all the way."

"You sure you wanna do that?" he laughed. "All the Sloans tend to be trouble."

"I think I can handle it," she smirked. "Didn't I fall for you despite all the warning everyone gave me about you?"

His smile gave her all the answers she needed. Even though they weren't officially together right now, she knew that they both wanted to be there again eventually. Mark was her soul mate and love of her life, so she knew she could forgive his wrongs. And he had forgiven her for running away. Now they were taking it one step at a time and these baby steps were good for her in so many ways.

After dinner, they drove back to Derek and Meredith's house, but she invited him in this time. Going up to her room, she closed the door behind her once they were both inside. Lexie leaned up and kissed Mark, wrapping her arms around his neck as best she could, her belly pressed to his. The feel of his lips against her own was like velvet as their tongues tangled slowly, building the passion of the kiss. Mark's hands moved down her back to her hips and held her close. After a moment longer, she broke their kiss and rested her forehead against his.

"Stay tonight?" she asked in a quiet voice.

He nodded and kissed her again, tenderly this time. When she broke the kiss, she turned around and had him unzip her dress. For a moment, she hesitated in undressing in front of him because her body was so different now with pregnancy. There were already stretch marks on the sides of her stomach and down to her hips. And Mark was…well, perfect. He was Mark Sloan, literally a walking sex symbol. And while she hadn't been so bad before, her body definitely wasn't what it used to be.

"You okay, Lex?" he asked, having noticed her hesitation apparently.

"I uh…my…I'm not the same," she finally said, trying not to cry. "My body is different, Mark."

"Lex…" he murmured, kissing her neck from behind. "You are beautiful. Nothing will ever change that."

She turned to face him. "You say that now, but what about in three months when I've gained more weight and my stretch marks are worse? Or after the baby comes when I'm just fat?"

Tears were already coming down her cheeks. "You're…well you're you! You're gorgeous and perfect, but I won't even have a cute ass anymore after this pregnancy!"

"Is that the only reason you think I love you?" he asked, moving his palm to her cheek. "Lexie Grey, you are the most beautiful, captivating, kind, infuriating, and wonderful woman I've ever known. I love you because you are so much more than just a pretty face."

Mark's words brought tears to her eyes as she looked at him, seeing the man she had fallen in love with so long ago when she was just a meek little intern that didn't know where she was going in the world, other than to become a surgeon. She hadn't planned on falling in love, having a baby, or any of that before becoming an amazing surgeon that had the respect of the surgical world, but life had other plans apparently.

Without words, Lexie moved forward and took his face in her palms, kissing him passionately and without apology. He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him, but she didn't break the kiss or let go this time. Instead, she tangled her tongue with his and wanted to feel him all over her body. Mark didn't argue either as she began to unbutton his shirt after pushing off his blazer and letting it fall on the floor. Her hands ran along the bare skin of his chest before she broke their kiss to breathe, looking in his eyes. Gently, Mark moved his hands down toward the middle of her dress, lifting it slowly before she raised her arms to help him be rid of it.

When she was more exposed, she felt self-conscious of her body since Mark hadn't seen her naked since she got pregnant, but he was quick to kiss her neck and move his hands over her curves. She pushed off his shirt and looked at his shirtless figure, feeling her heart beating fast in her chest as she bit her bottom lip. Mark kissed her again and undid her bra before sliding it off and moving her toward the bed a little. Sitting down on the end of the bed, she undid his pants and slid them off before he joined her on the bed, kissing down her neck to the top of her chest before taking one of her breasts in his mouth.

"Mark…" she gasped, unprepared for how good it would feel.

Months had gone by without sex for Lexie and she had forgotten how good even the slightest of touches from Mark could feel. He moved up and kissed her soundly, making her give a small noise of approval as his hand slid down her side to her panties, tugging them down and off before he tossed them off the bed somewhere. His boxers joined them on the floor as Mark brought Lexie over on him. Leaning down, she kissed him deeply and rocked her hips against his to tease him, knowing it was something he always liked during foreplay. He groaned into their kiss and she knew he was getting turned on by the reaction below the belt.

"Lex…" he murmured against her lips as he moved his hands over her hips. "God I missed you."

"I missed you…" she whispered, kissing along his neck while still moving her hips over his in a rocking motion.

After a few minutes of that, neither one of them could wait anymore, so Lexie raised her hips enough for Mark to reach down and guide his erection between her legs. Slowly lowering herself on him, she gasped from the feeling. She had forgotten how thick he was and how good it felt to have him inside of her over the last few months, but that feeling quickly returned to her as she was all the way down against him. Both of them let out a sigh of pleasure before she leaned in and kissed him, rocking her hips to his in a slow and sensual motion. This was a feeling she had missed the entire time she was away in Boston…the closeness of their intimacy and how connected she felt to Mark.

They kissed and shared little whispers of each other's names as they made love in her bed. Gasps escaped her throat as she felt herself approaching the edge of orgasm until she teetered over the edge, crying out his name before he followed after. She moved slowly off of him to the side, laying on her side so her belly rested against his and her head was on his shoulder.

"I love you," she murmured softly, kissing his chest once before laying down again. She was sated, happy, and sleepy now as she was drifting to sleep.

Mark pulled a blanket around both of them and held her close. "I love you too."


	22. Changes

**A/N: Sorry this one is such a short chapter! But I promise the next shall be longer! _Review_ my darlings!**

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The next few weeks passed all too quickly for Lexie as she moved into her third trimester of pregnancy. Everything was going well at work as her fourth year of residency was in full-swing, but personally – things were all over the place. Meredith and Derek were separated right now and Zola's adoption was called into question by the agency, which was heartbreaking and awful for her sister and brother-in-law, who loved Zola regardless of their personal issues. Lexie herself was fairly happy as her sex life was really good once again. The rumors were true – sex was really more intense while you were pregnant. And having Mark Sloan in your bed, well that was just the bonus cherry on top of the sundae.

Today was a special day though, as she was now thirty weeks into her pregnancy, meaning that they were now just ten weeks away from meeting their son. Her belly had grown a bit in the last few weeks, meaning her baby boy had as well. She had also hit a nesting phase, meaning she literally was cleaning everything at Meredith's or Mark's place when she wasn't at the hospital.

While she was prepping for a surgery with Dr. Bailey, Mark came up with some strawberries.

"Are those for me?" she asked with a grin and pleading eyes.

"Well maybe…have lunch with me to find out?" he asked in reply.

Smiling, she shut her chart. "I could eat. The baby is hungry too, so you're in luck."

"Good because they have your favorite downstairs in the cafeteria today," he mentioned as they started for the elevator.

"Oh yeah?" Lexie loved the tater tots here in the hospital since they were the first edible thing she had found during her intern year.

"I made sure they put some aside just for you," he said, pushing the button for the elevator and let her in first.

Going in, she turned and smiled. "Who did you have to bribe or charm for that?"

"Oh no charm necessary – the already love me down there anyway."

"Because you're just that wonderful?" she asked sarcastically, nudging him with her hip a little as the doors closed.

Mark pushed the right floor before they started going down. "Well I can be persuasive when I want to be. All I have to do is mention my pregnant girlfriend."

"You didn't!" she gasped, turning to look at him in shock. "Mark…we haven't…are we?"

"I'm not seeing anyone else and we're sleeping together. And having a baby together. I don't wanna sleep around or be with anyone else, Lexie."

She knew Mark was right and that they were mostly in a relationship as it was and had been for a while now. He was the only one she wanted to be with and loved the way she loved him. And even though she was a little afraid to date him again, she knew that she couldn't not love him with all of her heart or deny that she wanted to be with him.

"Okay," she conceded with a smile. "I'm your girlfriend and you're my boyfriend."

Mark grinned widely, leaning in to kiss her. She happily returned his kiss and stepped off the elevator when they stopped. They walked down the hall to the cafeteria before grabbing their lunch and walking over to a nearby table to sit down. Lexie smoothed out her scrub shirt over her belly right as her little boy kicked her hand, making her smile.

"Mark! Lexie!" She looked up to see a bubbly blonde coming in their direction.

"Robbins, I thought you had a big surgery this afternoon," Mark said, startled to see her.

Arizona shook her head. "Got pushed back. Hunt needed the OR for a trauma that came in, so I'm just grabbing lunch to meet Calliope at the daycare to see Sofia."

"Oh, how is she doing?" Lexie asked. "I know Callie had a rough time leaving her the first few days."

"She's doing really well now. We have a little schedule going that works for us. But I guess you'll know all about that in a few months." She nodded to Lexie's belly with a smile.

"Ten more weeks until we get to meet him," she grinned proudly, rubbing her stomach a few times.

"And four more until your baby shower."

Lexie smiled. Both Arizona and Callie had insisted on throwing a baby shower for her and Mark at the hospital with April's help. They were having it six weeks from Lexie's due date and a few weeks before she would be required to stop operating and work mostly on charts and off her feet until delivery. Though she didn't like the idea of not operating for a few months, she wanted to do what was best for her and the baby. And Mark would see to it that she was taken care of while she was in her final weeks of pregnancy.

"Well I better get going and get some food up to Calliope, but we will see you guys later." With that, the Peds surgeon was gone.

Turning back to her lunch, Lexie began to eat again and relaxed a little more. She was tired, but knew that came with being almost eight months pregnant. Her feet were swollen and she was hungry nearly all the time, which didn't work out that great when she was working, but they were taking it one day and one craving at a time these days.

"Lex…I've been thinking about what's going to happen when the baby comes."

"Oh?" Her eyes looked up to meet his blue ones across the table. There was a lot to think about and consider before the baby came along and she knew that it would take time to figure everything out. But that time was quickly coming to an end and she knew that decisions needed to be made about a lot of things in the coming weeks to months.

"I know you don't want to rush things and I respect that, but I want to be there for both of you when he's born," he explained cautiously. "To help out with him at night and make sure you're not doing all the work yourself all the time."

"Mark…wh-what are you asking?" Her hands were already shaking and her heart was racing in her chest.

"Move in with me again. Let me be there and take care of you and our son." The look in his eyes was pleading. "I was looking at a few places."

"The one with the fireplace?" she asked, remembering the real estate photos she had seen him going over before he moved into his apartment. Before he had moved into his apartment, he had wanted to buy a house for both of them to move into and hopefully start a family one day.

"Not that one exactly since it was sold a year or so ago, but there are a few on the market that I was looking into." Mark looked hopeful and she realized how serious he was about all of this.

In the past, Lexie would have thought that Mark wanting to move her in with him was rushing things way too much given that they had only just got back together seriously…but in a way, it did make more sense for her to do it now and prepare for the baby. She had a few things at Meredith and Derek's, but nothing substantial right now since there simply wasn't room, but if she and Mark were to find a home together and move in before the baby came, they would have time to prepare his nursery and get ready for his arrival. And when the baby was born, he could be there for her and their son all the time, especially when she was exhausted and just needed an hour of sleep or a shower.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath after giving the idea a serious moment of thought and realized how it made more sense. "I will move in with you."

The grin on Mark's face was enough to make her smile herself.

"Don't get so cocky," she said, rolling her eyes and laughing. "This pregnancy has made me a softy where you're concerned."

"This little guy knows his Dad all too well – he takes after me," he smirked as he leaned over and kissed her.

"I have three conditions for the house," she said as she broke their kiss.

"And what are they?" Mark asked, looking at her curiously.

"A huge bathtub to soak in, a fireplace, and a yard for our little boy to be able to run around in." Lexie had always wanted for her children to grow up in a place where they had a backyard to run around, playing pretend games, and building forts out of everything they could think of.

"Done," he replied, grinning.

Sitting back, Lexie rested her hand on her stomach again and smiled at him. They had gone from literally getting back together to moving in with each other in less than an hour, but instead of anxiety and fear, she felt resolved and happy for the first time in a long time. She and Mark were doing things right this time, even if they were doing it a little out of order from what most people did. Then again, she and Mark weren't exactly the most conventional of couples either. With their age difference, the fact that he had two other children with women that weren't her, a grandson out there somewhere, and their past issues, they were the least likely couple in the world that should work. But somehow, they just did.


	23. A Little Scare

**A/N: Hope you all are enjoying this next installment! _Review_! And thank you again so much for all your support!**

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"Mark Sloan, what did you do to work your Sloan-y charm over my sister again?"

"Big Grey," he greeted, holding his coffee in his hand as he entered the elevator where he was apparently going to be interrogated by Meredith Grey.

"Answer me," she demanded. "Because Lexie told me she was moving back in with you before the baby comes and said something about a house. Explain."

Honestly, he could have seen this coming since Meredith hadn't always been the biggest fan of him being around her little sister. That was in the beginning when he was sort of the manwhore of the hospital. Lexie had changed all of that and made him want to commit and be someone else, before all the really bad stuff hit the fan that broke them up twice before. But they were all adults, Lexie was pregnant with his child, and they loved each other. That was all he needed to know or anyone needed to know for that matter.

"Do I ever question your relationship with Derek?" he countered with his own question.

The elder Grey did not look amused as she glared at him. "Don't answer my question with a question, Mark Sloan."

"Lex and I are happy – we're having a baby together and I'm done messing around." His answer was pretty sobering, even for Meredith as he looked at her.

Apparently she hadn't expected that from him. Most people didn't. When Mark first came to Seattle, he accidentally hit on her without knowing she was dating Derek and that incident earned him a punch in the face from his best friend and several stitches. But that was all behind them and they had moved on. Mark was committed to Lexie and that was that.

"So this thing…it's for real? Because if it's not and you hurt Lexie…I swear to God I'll kick your ass myself." Meredith glanced at him with that warning on her breath.

The elevator dinged and opened to Mark's floor. "This is for real, Meredith. I'm through being a screw up when it comes to Lexie. And if I do, I'll gladly let you kick my ass."

Meredith seemed satisfied with that answer as she exited the elevator with him. He paid no mind to anyone else that was around them and probably just heard what he said as he got off on the surgical floor. Just about everyone knew about his and Lexie's story, but they were moving on together and he was going to make it last this time. He parted ways with Lexie's sister and went about his paperwork. There was a ton of it as he had been through a few elective procedures in the last few days that would require post-ops in the next week or two to check progress.

Once the mountain was reduced to a hill, he moved on to a case that he had been working on for a while; A complete reconstruction of a child's face that had been mauled in a dog attack. Mark had been working for this particular case for months now and as a father himself, he was invested in this child's life and giving it back to her. He went over a few case studies for new techniques that he was trying for skin growth and rebuilding her nose.

"Hey,: a voice called from the door. "I brought you some lunch."

"Thanks Little Grey," he said, smiling and moving his papers and labs aside for her.

"Working on the Johnson case again?" she inquired as she came over with the boxes of food for them.

"Yeah, just planning the next surgery to rebuild her nose and open the nasal passages so she can breathe through her nose normally," he said, taking the food off her hands to set it down.

"What happens after that?"

"Then we have to finish the skin graphs for her chin and then allow her time to heal." Mark loved sharing his work with Lexie because he was so much more than just a plastic surgeon and she knew that. He was an ENT that had a special talent for reconstruction of faces.

Lexie sat down beside him. "You are giving that little girl her life back."

"If all goes well, you'll never know anything happened to her," he replied, opening his lunch. "But we'll see after the procedure in a few days."

"I know you'll be flawless," she confidently argued. "You're the best there is."

Mark felt a grin spread over his lips. Hearing Lexie compliment his work always gave him a boost in confidence and pride. He knew he was one of the best plastic surgeons in the country as well as an ENT, but it was nice to hear your significant other praise your work as well. And it made Mark a tad more cocky, if he was honest with himself, because Lexie was one of the first that recognized how good he was without having to be told by himself.

"So…how has your day been?" he asked, smiling at her warmly.

"Good. I was working with Bailey this morning on a bowel resection," she replied, sipping her juice and grabbing a piece of pineapple.

"How did that go?" He always liked hearing about her day too since she was one of the best residents in the hospital and had more talent than all the residents in her year combined. At least in his eyes she was the best.

"Really good actually – Dr. Bailey let me do part of the procedure myself," she explained excitedly as she swallowed her fruit. "It was an amazing feeling, Mark…like I was flying solo, but not exactly."

The excitement in her voice and eyes made him smile. Lexie was already on her way to becoming a great surgeon and he knew she would because she already was in so many ways. She took what she learned and applied it so easily and effortlessly as she went into her surgeries with the mentors, including himself. Her stitches were nearly flawless now since he had taught her a technique a while ago he learned while he was in his Plastics fellowship.

"Well you are going to do great things in the future, Lexie Grey," he told her confidently.

"I do have some really great teachers," she said, smirking as she continued to eat her lunch.

While he continued on with his lunch, he thought about how good things were now. In the last had two weeks, Lexie had all but moved in with him and they were actively looking for a house to move into before the baby was born. Lexie was now eight months pregnant and their son was growing so fast inside of her. Everything was going great right now and he was thankful for that peace. But he was always on his toes for something going wrong. It was inevitable with the karma around this place. People shooting up the hospital, bombs, and God only knew what else.

"I have to up my game next year though – for my fifth year and…" Lexie trailed off and furrowed her brow as her hand moved up to her stomach.

Instantly worried, Mark flew up from his chair. "Lex?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she waved her hand at him and tried to shoo him off. "It's nothing - probably just gas pains or indigestion…probably both at this point if we're honest."

Mark might have believed her had she not cried out in pain a moment later and doubled over with her hand against her stomach. That pushed him into action without a second thought.

"That isn't nothing," he said firmly, taking out his phone to have the OB on-call paged immediately. "We're going to get that checked out right now and there is no arguing."

The worry Mark felt was escalated because of Sofia's premature delivery. Though Lexie was about ten weeks further in her pregnancy than Callie had been, it still terrified him to think he could potentially lose another child or have him come into the world way too soon. Sofia survived by a miracle, but chancing it twice – he couldn't do that. He held Lexie's hand until the doctor arrived about twenty minutes later. They moved her to a wheelchair and immediately moved her to an exam room. During all of that time, Lexie had been doubling over every few minutes in pain, like contractions.

"Dr. Grey, how often is the pain?" Dr. Michaels asked.

Lexie shook her head. "It varies – every five minutes or two minutes. Sometimes just about a minute."

"I'm going to do an ultrasound, but I think you're experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions. They aren't anything to be alarmed at as many women in this stage of pregnancy experience them, especially being as petite as you are. The cause for concern would come if they were at regular intervals and/or your water has broken."

False contractions. That was a huge relief for Mark, especially given his history with his children coming too early. He held Lexie's hand as the ultrasound started and their son came up on the screen, moving around and seemingly fine.

"Is he okay?" Lexie asked, squeezing his hand anxiously.

"He is perfect," Dr. Michaels confirmed. "You're probably just experiencing false labor pains, but just keep a close tab on it for a few days. Take it easy, get some rest, drink more water, and if it worsens or the pain is consistent at intervals, then we'll take another look."

Mark sighed in relief, kissing Lexie's temple as the ultrasound was turned off.

"He's okay…" Lexie breathed, calming herself down before thanking the doctor and resting her head against Mark's shoulder.

When they were alone again, Mark gathered Lexie in his arms. They both breathed a huge sigh of relief and knew that everything was okay. Their son was alright and staying put for the time being, but Lexie had to take it easy from now on. He didn't want her pushing herself into premature labor and that was something he would put his foot down about, no matter how much she argued and tried to convince him that she was fine and didn't need to slow down as much as she should at this stage of her pregnancy.

"Lex…Dr. Michaels is right," he told her as he finally calmed down from the excitement and looked in her eyes. "You need to slow down and take care of yourself more. You're eight months pregnant."

"I know," she replied, holding her stomach with both of her hands. "It's hard when you're trying to prove yourself as a surgeon and don't want to miss out on good surgeries that will give you experience though."

"If there is one thing I've learned it's that there will always be other surgeries," he reminded her. "But there will never be another you or another him." He motioned to her stomach.

"You're right," she said, meeting his eyes with hers. "I've been working hard because I didn't want to miss out, but…he comes first. And if I have to slow down, I will…even if it will drive me nuts to sit down and do paperwork all the time."

Mark nodded and kissed her. "All I want is for both of you to be safe and for him to be born on time."

All Mark had ever wanted was for his children to be healthy and happy. And if he had to make sure that Lexie slowed down, he would do that and wouldn't care if she got mad at him. So long as they were safe, that was all that mattered to him. They had eight more weeks to go until Lexie's due date and about five more until their son could be safely delivered, so he knew that they were almost there…it was just about time now.


	24. Benched and Bored

After the incident with the Braxton Hicks contractions, Mark became even more of a hawk in watching Lexie, to the point where it was driving her nuts. While she knew he meant well and only wanted her and the baby to be safe, it really was annoying to have him hovering all the time at work and home; especially now that they were moving into their new home and out of the apartment. They found their home and Mark closed out the deal last week after some haggling, which he did most of because he was good at that sort of thing. Mark insisted that Lexie not lift anything, so he enlisted Derek to help move and basically blackmailed Jackson, bribing him with amazing surgery opportunities in Plastics.

Lexie had also been benched on any surgeries lasting longer than three hours by doctor's orders since she was now thirty-five weeks along. And none of the attending doctors were brave enough to tango with Mark about her being in the operating room. So she was stuck either on charting or in the Pit, doing stitches or giving initial exams on patients that weren't contagious.

"Little Grey," Dr. Bailey greeted as she came into the charting room.

"Dr. Bailey," she said, looking up and smiling. "Please tell me you're here to bust me out for a surgery. I'm dying in here."

Bailey laughed. "Well I do happen to have a little something here in a few hours."

"Can I scrub in please?!" she begged, making a pouty face. "I need to do something besides sit on my ass, which has gone numb in the last half hour."

"Alright – go prep for it and be in the scrub room for OR three at one pm sharp."

"Thank you!" she gasped happily, resisting the urge to get up and hug her.

"I understand where you're at right now, probably better than anyone else, Grey. I came up her after they sent me home on maternity leave," Bailey chuckled. "Be there, on time, and prepared and you may scrub in with me."

With those words, Bailey was gone and Lexie got up and waddled out of the room to go prepare for Bailey's surgery. She was so thankful for this right now since she needed it more than anything else due to her cabin fever. Being nearly nine months pregnant and a surgeon didn't mix well and limited your time in the operating room, so she would take what she could get. As Lexie walked down the hall, she was surprised to see her sister walking with Zola on her hip.

"Mer…when…how?" she asked, not really forming a coherent sentence in her shock.

Her sister was beaming. "The social worker showed up at our house this morning…Zola is…she's ours."

A feeling of intense happiness rushed over Lexie as she hugged her sister and kissed her niece's cheek. "Congrats!" she said, smiling.

"Thanks," Meredith replied. "The paperwork will be finalized in a few weeks but she is really ours."

"Good…you and Derek are Zola's parents and always have been." Lexie believed that with all of her heart and always had since they first expressed interest in adopting her.

"So…where you off to?" Meredith asked, changing topics.

"Bailey is letting me scrub in on a short surgery, so I'm going to prep for it," she answered.

Meredith nodded. "I'll let you get back to that, but we're planning a little thing – a dinner at the house, if you're up for it."

"I'll be there and I'll drag Mark with me," she laughed. Any kind of dinner with her sister would automatically merit bringing Mark since he was family to Derek. And this was a celebration of sorts, so she knew that he would want to be there. "Just let me know what time and if I need to bring anything."

"I will."

The two sisters parted and Lexie went to the surgical floor, swiping the chart for Dr. Bailey's patient to read up on everything she could. The patient was a fifteen-year-old girl, born with Cystic Fibrosis that was waiting on a miracle lung transplant that would give her a much longer life and better quality of life. Cystic Fibrosis was a horrible disease that until recent years, stole the lives of many children every year and was usually diagnosed within the first year or so of life. Prognosis originally was grim, many dying in the first year or so of their lives, but many lived until adulthood with the right treatment and depending on the severity of their case. The options for treatment were a lot better than they had been fifty years ago or even thirty years previously.

Today they were going to drain some of the fluid in the girl's lungs and relieve the pressure on her chest and heart. Looking over the medical records for the patient, she had been in the hospital over thirty times in her life for pneumonia, colds, and even the flu, all because her disease made her vulnerable to those types of illnesses.

While Lexie read, she felt tears welling up in her eyes as she could imagine how much hell this would be for her patient and for her parents. Her hormones amplifying that didn't help matters much, but she pushed those away and finished reading the chart. When she was done, she returned it to the nurses' station and went back to the on-call room. She sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, lifting her scrub shirt to reveal her belly. The skin was taut from her pregnancy and her belly button had popped out, which Mark found humorous.

"Lex?" Mark called as he came in, making her jump slightly since she thought she was alone.

She looked up. "Hey."

"I thought I might find you up here," he grinned, coming over and joining her on the bed, kissing her once. "Bailey put you on the board with her for her surgery. You always read up for surgeries in here."

Lexie smiled. "Well it's the least likely on-call room to be used for _other_ things."

They both laughed and Mark pressed his palm to her bare belly as their son started kicking. Mark smiled at the feeling of it as Lexie put her hand over his. Her stomach had just about stretched to its limit and she knew it wouldn't be much longer until they met their little boy.

"He always wakes up when you're here," she said, looking in his eyes. "It's like he just knows you're here with me. He knows your voice."

"That's my boy," Mark grinned, leaning down to kiss her stomach. His scruff rubbed against her bare skin and she smiled, loving the feel of it there. She'd always loved when he had a little hair on his face since it was sexy.

"Well if he pays attention that well, it won't surprise me if his first word is 'scalpel' or 'suction'," she said, laughing and shaking her head.

"But you know we'd be proud."

Mark was right about that. "Well even so, I'm hoping for 'Mama' as his first word, personally."

"Well 'Dada' is what I'm going for," he argued teasingly, grinning up at her with a signature Sloan smirk.

"You would. That doesn't surprise me at all, Mark."

No matter what their son's first word was, Lexie knew he would be loved and cherished by them and their family and friends. Mark was already such a great father to him and to Sofia that Lexie didn't worry about his parenting skills like other women might have if they didn't know him. Lexie knew now that Addison had once been pregnant with Mark's child, but aborted it when she realized she didn't want his baby, but Derek's instead. And she knew how much that had affected him, which was one of the many reasons she couldn't have done the same to him.

"So…you're going into a surgery with Bailey this afternoon?" he asked, looking at her.

Moving her scrub shirt down, she nodded. "The procedure is less than two hours from start to finish. She knew I was going stir crazy just doing charts and stitches."

"As long as you aren't on your feet for more…" he began before Lexie put her fingers to his mouth.

"I will be fine," she insisted. "Dr. Bailey has been pregnant before and will make sure I'm alright. You don't have to be hover boyfriend for this one."

"Alright," he backed off. "But as soon as you're scrubbed out, take a break."

"I will," she promised, kissing him quickly on the lips. "Now…help me up." She held her hands up as Mark got off the bed and helped her to her feet from the bed.

"I officially can't see my feet anymore," she groaned, looking down.

"Just a few more weeks and he'll be here," Mark mused, touching the side of her belly lovingly.

"We still don't have a first name," she went on, lingering for a moment before moving toward the door. "But…nothing feels _right_."

"Sometimes you don't know until the baby is born," he offered, giving a little shrug as he followed her. "Sofia didn't have a name until she was a few days old."

"I just want him to have a name he can grow up with, you know?" Lexie went out in the hall and walked toward the scrub rooms.

"We'll find one, I promise," he assured her. "Now go kick some surgical ass."

Lexie kissed him one more time and went into the scrub room. She put on her scrub cap and mask before beginning to wash her hands and arms thoroughly. The entire process was familiar and comforting to her in a way since she had done it so many times before in the last couple of years. While she was scrubbing her hands, Dr. Bailey came in and began the same process for herself.

"Little Grey," she said, nodding her head in acknowledgement of her presence.

"Dr. Bailey," she replied.

"Is the Little Sloan gonna behave himself during my surgery?" she asked, a smile evident in her eyes, though her mask hid her mouth completely.

"He's already been told by me he better or face his father," she laughed as they walked in the OR together.

"Little Tuck used to kick me all the time during surgery – he's stubborn, just like me and his father," Bailey went on, getting her gown and gloves on.

"This one likes to kick and move a lot at night, especially when I'm trying to sleep." Lexie got her gown and gloves put on as well by the other scrub nurses.

They both stepped up to the table where the patient was already sedated and prepped. While this procedure wouldn't be the miracle the family was hoping for, it would give the patient relief and buy her more time to hopefully receive a transplant. And that, ultimately, was the goal the family was working toward.

"Do you think they'll find a match for donation?" she asked as they began.

"If they're lucky, then yes," Bailey replied. "Erin has been my patient for two years, but they've been fighting since she was diagnosed as an infant."

"I can't imagine…what her parents have been through," she said sadly.

"No parent ever wants their child to be sick. It's the worst feeling of failure as a parent, even if prevention was never possible, such as cases like this."

Lexie could never imagine her little boy getting suck, but she knew it was inevitable that he would get colds or even the flu someday, but that was still scary for any parent, especially those that were doing this for the very first time. They could vaccinate and do what they could to prevent germs from coming in contact with their son, but like every kid…he would get sick eventually and that would be something they would have to deal with, just like the first time he fell and the first time he needed stitches for something.

The surgery was a success as she and Bailey scrubbed out and told the parents that their daughter was stable in recovery. After that, Lexie went to rest in a nearby on-call room as she promised Mark she would, but found Callie in the room, cradling Sofia in her arms.

"Oh…I'm sorry," she whispered in apology as she went to leave. "I'll go find another room."

"It's okay, Little Grey," Callie insisted with a laugh. "She's out cold, so she won't wake up with any kind of noise now."

Lexie smiled a little and came in, sitting on the opposite bed from Callie. "She's grown so much since the beginning."

"She has…doesn't seem real sometimes, but every day I wake up and she's still here," Callie smiled proudly for a moment before turning serious as she looked up at Lexie. "I never…apologized to you for…well sleeping with Mark. I know that you guys weren't together, but I did know how he felt about you. That night was a poor, drunk decision on both Mark and I's parts…so I am sorry."

The apology took Lexie by surprise as she was taken back. It was never something she expected from Callie since she and Mark were broken up when they slept together and conceived Sofia. Yet it really touched her that Callie was apologizing and owning up to the fact that she played a part in all of this too.

"I know you probably don't care for me much but-"

Lexie interrupted. "It's not like that. I mean, yeah I was pissed at first because Mark's past was coming back to haunt us again, but ultimately I can't stay mad at something forever. Mark and I were broken up when you guys…got drunk and…"

"Mashed our genitals together?" Callie finished her thought, making Lexie laugh a little.

"Yeah. But our kids are going to be brother and sister, so it's time to let go of the past and move on. I did overreact when Mark told me you were pregnant, but it was the second time someone else had showed up with his kid when we were together…so I freaked, but I'm letting it all go."

The other woman smiled and shifted the baby in her arms. "Brother and sister," she repeated. "They're going to cause all kinds of trouble."

"Of course they will - they're Sloans," Lexie agreed with a grin.

"I'm glad you came back, Lexie. You made Mark a better man and we all know that."

"He was always that man, but someone just needed to see it," she replied, touching her own stomach. "Mark has always had a caring heart underneath that tough guy act he puts up for everyone else to see."

"You really do love him," Callie concluded. "And that is a very good thing because he is so in love with you that he didn't have sex with anyone after you left."

Lexie was stunned. "No one? Not even a one night stand with some girl at the bar?"

Callie shook her head. "Not a single one. And when you came home, he never once looked at any other woman. Not even their boobs."

"Well…mine are pretty distracting at the moment," she laughed and looked down. Her bra size had gone up two whole cups with this pregnancy, not that she had been complaining since Mark was _very_ attentive to them at home in bed.

"He is totally in love with you, Lexie, and has been for a long time…longer than he'll admit to anyway." Callie glanced at her. "It's like you two were made for each other or something with how you're always drawn back to one another."

A smile crossed her lips. The idea that she and Mark were made for each other had crossed her mind many times and she had entertained the idea that they were soul mates more than once in the last few years. She loved him deeply and knew that they were much more than just a fling by the time she had moved in with him. They had gone through a lot of drama in the last few years, but they always found their way home to each other and she knew that spoke volumes for the kind of love they had for each other.

"Get some rest, Lexie," Callie said, gently standing up with Sofia in her arms. "When that little one comes, you're gonna need it."

Callie quietly left the room, giving Lexie some privacy to lay down and get some sleep. As she moved to lay on her side, her baby boy began moving around and she realized how lucky she felt to have this baby growing inside of her. Though she and Mark had their differing opinions about family in the past, she couldn't imagine not preparing to become a mother right now to the baby growing inside of her. He was made out of love by her and Mark, so she knew she could never regret him. All she could hope for right now was that when he came in the world, she would be ready for him as his mother.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for your support of this story so far...I hope you're enjoying it! _Review_ and let me know what you think so far! Hearing back from my readers truly makes my day and gives me encouragement as a writer.**


	25. Halloween

Lexie Grey was _so_ beyond over being pregnant.

Her son was officially overdue and she was achy, tired, and cranky most of time. They had sent her home completely on maternity leave the previous week and she was already going absolutely crazy at home. Her nesting had kicked up into high gear as she cleaned literally the entire house from top to bottom, despite Mark's pleas for her to take it easy. But she knew she wanted the house spotless before their baby came home. Everything was finished for the nursery in their new home and they were just waiting for their son to decide he wanted to make his grand entrance into the world. Lexie had also tried everything to induce labor from eating spicy food to having sex with Mark every night from the time she was thirty-nine weeks pregnant on. But nothing she did worked in inducing her labor, so she resigned to letting their son decide when he was coming out, though she wasn't a patient woman at this point.

Mark had been incredibly patient during all of the madness and doted on her, indulging her two am cravings for chocolate covered cherries this past week and for the popcorn with garlic before that. He had also endured her mood swings where she cried over cute commercials on television, which triggered a tearful ramble about their baby boy still not having a name. And in the same minute, she would stop crying and start making out with him, demanding he have sex with her because she was horny again. Mark had soldiered through all of it without complaint and got her through it all so far. So she decided that she wanted to surprise him with a little something at work to just thank him for being so good during all of the hormonal swings and crazy pregnancy things happening at home.

It was Halloween, so Lexie decided to come up early in the afternoon to avoid the chaos that would soon engulf the trauma center with all the wild costume parties turned awry and belligerent drunks that thought they were Superman or whatever they were dressed as. She arrived around one with lunch for Mark and came in.

"Lexie?" a voice called, catching her attention.

Lexie turned to see who it belonged to and found her red-headed friend, April Kepner, holding some charts in her hands.

"I thought you were home on maternity leave…oh my…are you in labor?! Do I need to page Dr. Sloan?" The red-head's eyes grew about three sizes as she began to panic.

Holding her hand up, Lexie shook her head. "April, I'm not in labor…God how I _wish_ I was in labor right now, but I'm not. I'm just here to see Mark and surprise him with lunch," she quickly explained.

"Oh…okay," her friend said, visibly relieved before she perked up again. "I think Dr. Sloan is coming out of surgery right about now, so he should be up on the surgical floor if you want to catch him."

"Thanks," she said, smiling and waddling off to the elevators. Pressing the button to go up, she was surprised when the doors opened up to Alex Karev.

"Lexipedia!" he greeted with a grin as he made room for her to get in the elevator. "Still haven't popped yet?"

Lexie got on and pushed the button for the floor she wanted. "Nope – he seems pretty damn determined to stay in there too. Almost a week overdue and nothing."

"What'd you expect? He's a Sloan and a Grey." Alex chuckled as the doors shut and they began to rise.

Almost as fast as they were going up, there was a loud screech and a jolt, bringing their elevator car to a halt between the third and fourth floors. Lexie had braced herself against the bar in the back before the shaking stopped. Almost immediately, Alex tried the emergency buttons and found none of them were working. As he banged against the metal door in frustration. Lexie rested her hand on her bump, making sure her baby was alright, and took a breath before moving her hand down further to find that her pants were wet.

"Oh God…" she gasped. "Alex…my…"

Alex turned and gawked. "No...Lex you are not going into labor right now in this elevator!"

_Of course he would freak out… _she thought to herself, holding onto her stomach as a real contraction hit her. "Alex my water is broken…we need to get out of here…call…the maintenance…an ahhh!"

As she screamed, Alex fumbled in his pocket and dug out his cell phone and looked at the screen. "I don't have the number!"

"Then call Meredith!" she snapped, breathing in sharply as the contraction came to an end and he was able to breathe again.

"Got it…" Alex replied, putting the phone to his ear until her sister apparently picked up. "Yeah…we're stuck in some damn elevato…me and Lexie and her water's broken…hell if I know!" He looked at her. "How far apart are the contractions?"

"I can't tell yet," she said, suddenly thinking about how she had to deliver within a day of her water breaking so infection wasn't a risk to her or the baby.

"She isn't sure yet but get someone to get us the hell out of here," he demanded back in the phone as he put it to his ear again.

Lexie paced and pulled out her own phone while Alex was talking to Meredith. She dialed Mark's number and held the phone up to her ear, praying he'd pick up. It rang three times before the other line picked up to a voice she knew.

"Hey!" he said, obviously glad she had called him. "I was just going to call you and see how you were."

"Mark…I…I'm in labor," she sputtered out. "My water broke."

"Okay, I'm on my way home right now. I'll get the bags and we'll get you back up here," he said, sounding like he knew the plan from memory that they had come up with if he was at the hospital when she went into labor. Their plan never included this.

"I'm…not at home…I'm at the hospital, stuck in an elevator," she said, trying not to cry as she realized how much this situation was not ideal. Mark was supposed to be by her side during labor and delivery, just like they planned.

"What?!" Mark said on the other end, shocked and completely flabbergasted.

"I came up here to surprise you with lunch for how good you've been to me and the elevator got stuck and my water broke and now I'm in labor and you aren't here!" she cried, feeling tears running down her face.

"Lex…which elevator are you in?" Mark asked, sounding determined. "Is there anyone with you?"

"I'm in the right elevator…stuck between the third and fourth floors," she rambled. "Alex is with me…he's talking to Meredith…trying to get help."

"Tell Karev his job is to keep you calm or I'll kick his ass myself when we get you out of there," he went on. "You keep breathing, like we practiced. I'm gonna get you out. I promise. Hang tight and I'm going to find help."

"Okay…please hurry…I don't want to do this alone, Mark. Not without you!" she gasped as another contraction hit her, making her cry out in pain as she grabbed the bar of the elevator to brace herself.

"Deep breaths Lex," Mark reminded her over the phone. "I'm going to be there, I promise. I love you and I'm going to get you out before our son is born."

Lexie felt the contraction receding and breathed again. "I love you too," she murmured to him.

"I'll see you soon," he said, hanging up as Lexie did the same, putting her phone down.

"Meredith is going to get help…the maintenance should be able to get us out soon," Alex said, looking hopeful as he put his phone in his pocket again.

"Mark too," she breathed, rubbing her stomach as she started laughing at herself and the situation. "My son would pick _now_ to come into the world."

It made sense because she and Mark always had the worst timing when it came to anything. Mark telling her she could have a husband when she was dating Alex, her walking in on Derek and Meredith a few times, and even Callie and Arizona…all of the impeccable timing that was Lexie Grey had obviously passed down to her son and was biting her in the ass, big time.

"He's your kid…so yeah that sounds about right," Alex agreed, helping her sit down before sitting beside her. "You doin' alright?"

"Other than the searing contractions that make me want to rip my uterus out…I'm peachy," she replied, rolling her eyes. "How long do you think it'll take them to get this thing up and going to get us out?"

"Possibly an hour, at most," he said. "It probably was some sort of gear that got thrown, but that's just guessing."

"Thank God first-time labors are supposed to last hours, right?" she laughed nervously, rubbing her stomach.

Alex seemed relieved at that. "Yeah, because I sure as hell don't wanna deliver your kid. No offense, Lexie, but that is just a boundary I don't want to cross."

"And delivering my son in this elevator is not what I had planned, so I'm going to stick to the plan of delivering him in a regular room with Mark holding my hand," she declared, looking at her stomach. "Deal?"

"Deal."

After a few more contractions, Lexie could hear someone outside of the elevator and knew that the maintenance workers had finally arrived and were hopefully assessing the situation to get them out. She had no idea what was going on outside, but she heard a lot of noise and felt the elevator shift, causing Lexie to grab Alex's arm in a panic. When it settled again, she relaxed and looked at him. He seemed just as worried as she did. Elevators held a significant fear for him for the longest time after the shooting, so she knew how bad it could be. But they both settled down when things seemed to be alright after a few minutes of jarring noises.

"And you guys made fun of my ass for taking the stairs," Alex muttered, shaking his head.

"It's not like this happens every day," she countered.

"Our hospital has a knack for drawing all sorts of weird situations, haven't you noticed?" he asked, looking at her.

"You're right…" she said, grasping her stomach as another contraction hit her. "God these suckers hurt like a bitch! I did not want natural childbirth!"

Alex took her hand, a surprising gesture from him, and held it while she went through the contraction. "It's not going to be much longer and they'll get us out. I bet Sloan is barking up everyone's ass to make it happen."

"Oh God don't make me laugh!" she said, trying so hard not to laugh since she felt like everything would come out if she did.

He smiled at her and they both realized how ironic this situation was that they were in. They had been in a relationship, once before, but both of them knew it was just something to get over the loneliness they felt after Izzie left and she had broken up with Mark. Deep down, Alex wasn't such a bad guy and Lexie kind of always knew that, but he had a lot of issues that went a lot deeper than what he said. She knew every woman he had ever loved or cared about had either left him or gone crazy, like Izzie and Ava had. But Alex himself was a good person with a caring heart, though he hid it behind sarcasm a lot. And if she was stuck in this situation with any other guy but Mark, she was glad it was him and not some stranger.

Almost two hours passed, with them still stuck in the elevator and Lexie started to get nervous about being stuck in here. She and Alex kept track of her contractions and she called Mark a few times, knowing he would be doing all he could to get her out. Meredith called her as well and calmed her down a little. But nothing would really ease her anxiety until she was out of this elevator and in a hospital room to deliver her son.

Another hour passed, while the mechanics worked on the elevator after arriving, but Lexie's contractions kept intensifying in the meantime. They were now three minutes apart and lasting about forty-five seconds, which meant she was getting closer to delivery. Her contractions were also intense and unforgiving as she held onto her phone tightly between calls with Mark, who was pacing outside the elevator doors apparently and yelling at everyone that was working on getting them out.

"Alex…what if I have to deliver in here?" she asked, coming off a contraction with a deep breath.

"You're not," he insisted. "We're going to get out and you're going to have your kid in the maternity wing. Not here."

Her words were slightly comforting in a way for her as she knew that it was what she wanted and had planned for. Not this.

"So uh…you and Sloan? That's the real deal?" he asked, obviously wanting to either change topic or distract her. Maybe both.

"Yeah…we are." Lexie held her stomach and looked at her ex-boyfriend, wondering how she would have ever wound up telling him about her love life.

"Good. It was about damn time," he commented. "Everyone knew how he felt about you."

"Oh?"

"He was always checking on you and the way he looked at you…guys just know that stuff about other guys. And he was with you when you were in the Looney Ward."

"What?" she asked, realizing she hadn't known that.

"He held your hand for over forty hours. Your sister wasn't too happy, but since when does that affect him?"

Lexie smiled a little and winced as another contraction came, reminding her how close she was to meeting her son. She had been ready for this for weeks, but scared at the same time since she didn't know what to expect from motherhood.

Waves of contractions later, she and Alex were still stuck in the elevator. Time was flying too fast as she realized her contractions were now ninety seconds apart and that they had been trapped in here over four hours, but were no closer to getting out. The situation was getting desperate as the minutes ticked by and they were still sitting on the floor.

"If you don't get her out right now, I will kick your ass so hard your mother will feel it!" a voice she recognized as Mark's shouted. He was getting angry and desperate.

"Mark!" she called, hoping he would hear her.

"Lex! How are you doing in there?" His voice was calmer and more gentle with her, as if he was right by the door, holding his hand to the metal to talk to her.

"I've been better…my contractions are only ninety seconds apart." That meant that she had to be eight or nine centimeters dilated.

"I'm working on getting you out or finding a way in, I swear!"

"I know…I…" she stopped and cried out with another contraction, grabbing her stomach. The pain felt like her body was splitting in half as she grit her teeth.

"Lex? Lexie talk to me…Karev, what the hell is going on in there?"

"Dude, she is in the middle of a contraction!" Alex yelled back. "Lexie, I think I need to check you. Take your pants off."

"The hell you don't," she growled, glaring at him. "You are not looking at my vagina or anywhere near it!"

"Like I haven't seen it before," he quipped, making her want to slap him right there. "And it's not like that. I need to see how dilated you are."

She shook her head adamantly. "No – I'm not having this baby in a damn elevator! He is going to wait!"

"Lexie, your contractions are practically on top of each other. I don't think your kid is going to wait."

There were times, like right now, when she hated that Alex was right, but logically she knew that he was and that she probably was near delivery now. Normal first time deliveries took between twelve and twenty-four hours, but apparently she and Mark never did anything by the book and their son was coming in about four. It had to be some kind of record, but her head wasn't in the place to think about the facts or figures at the moment.

"Fine," she snapped and shifted after the next contraction ended. Alex took off his lab coat and laid it out for her, helping her ease onto it before removing her maternity pants and undergarment. "No pervy comments or I might snap your head off at this point."

Alex ignored that comment and looked between her legs. "Lexie…you're fully dilated," he breathed, looking up at her.

"Oh God…" she gasped, crying out as a contraction came and the urge to push hit her at the same time, causing her to almost double over from the pain. "No! I can't do this without Mark…he should be here to help me and hold my hand. This…no…I don't want this!"

"Hey…you can do this," Alex firmly told her. "This situation sucks, I get it, but I'm not going to let you do this alone. You have to push, Lex. For your kid. He needs you to do this."

Through her tears, she nodded and held her knees when the next contraction came. Pain tore through her as she pushed for ten seconds at a time, taking a breath between, until the whole contraction passed. Alex took out his hand sanitizer and washed his hands and encouraged her on. Sixty seconds passed and another contraction came. Again, Lexie pushed and cried out.

Contraction.

Pushing.

Pain.

The pattern continued on for at least ten or fifteen minutes, though she'd lost count and didn't think to look at her phone to check the time. Everything from her waist down hurt like hell, but she kept on going with Alex's encouragement. He really surprised her with how he took charge and kept her calm and pushing. Though he was a real ass sometimes, he knew when to have his head on straight and be a good person, which was why she really was thankful he was here for her during this.

"The baby is crowning Lexie – I can see his head," Alex announced as she breathed from her last round of pushing. "He's got dark hair. You got this…just a couple more pushes."

As Lexie bared down to push again, there was a shake in the elevator as something came down on top of it. She panicked for a moment, thinking something might have dropped in the shaft or the chords might have been snapping, but when the grate up top opened to Mark coming in, she could have cried from relief. He dropped down a bag of emergency supplies and came in, dropping down on the floor beside her before immediately looking at Alex.

"Good timing Sloan," Alex said, digging in the bag for gloves, snapping them on. "Alright Lexie, big pushes."

"I wasn't going to miss my son's birth," Mark said, looking at Lexie before he leaned in and kissed her.

Lexie looked at Mark, completely relieved he was here as he got behind her and held her up and held her hands as she pushed down hard, screaming out in pain before focusing again and pushing down. This was the hardest part, next to delivering his shoulders, but Lexie didn't even want to think about that right now as she kept on pushing.

"Go Lex…you can do this," Mark encouraged in her ear, holding her hands as she pushed down hard.

"Almost there!" Alex said, holding his hands at the baby's head as it came out.

She had to breathe when the contraction ended, but the baby's head was out…she could feel that as she reached down and felt the hair on his head. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized how close she was to holding him. The next contraction came and she grabbed Mark's hands, pushing down as Alex was delivering the shoulders. Once they were out, he slid right out and she got to see the first glimpse of her son as he was placed on her chest, wailing and screaming. Letting go of Mark, she immediately grabbed her child and held him close, crying herself. Alex suctioned out his nose and mouth, effectively making his cries louder as his airway was now clear completely. A blanket from the emergency kit was used to wrap around him as she held him to her chest, keeping him warm with her body heat.

"Oh…oh God," she cried through her own tears. "Hi baby…hi sweet little boy."

Tearing her eyes away from her son, Lexie looked up at Mark to see that he had a few tears of his own rolling down his cheeks. She hadn't expected him to be a man who cried at the birth of his child, but it made more tears stream down her face as she kissed him and looked back at their precious baby boy in her arms.

"Look what we did!" she said, touching their son's cheek.

Mark's finger grazed their baby's cheek as well as he kissed her head. "You did it, Lex…I'm so proud of you."

No painkillers, no drugs of any kind…Lexie had gone through labor and delivery without anything and in an elevator no less, which would be a story to tell their son later on in life. Lexie finally tore her gaze from her son to Alex as he was rummaging in the bag for clamps for the cord from what he was muttering.

"Thank you…for everything," she said gently, knowing that without Alex here, her baby might not have been delivered safely.

Alex waved it off. "Any decent guy would have helped," he said.

Lexie knew he wouldn't take credit for this because he usually didn't for the good things that happened. But Alex Karev was a lot better than he let people think he was. And she was incredibly thankful for him being here to deliver her baby.

While he was cleaning up everything, he clamped off the baby's cord and handed scissors to Mark to cut the cord, officially ending her physical tie to her son. Looking at her beautiful boy, he had her dark hair and Mark's blue eyes, for now, but babies' features changed. Right now, she was just in awe of the tiny human being she had just given birth to and focused on getting the hell out of this elevator so they could get comfortable again.

* * *

**A/N: And there we have it...the long awaited Slexie baby boy! This is the longest chapter I have ever written to date, as well. _Review _my wonderful readers because it so makes my day!**


	26. A Family

The maintenance crew worked hard and was able to open the elevator fifteen or so minutes after Lexie had given birth. Her sister rushed in and helped her onto a gurney with Mark and Alex's help, giving her a blanket to cover herself with since she was still exposed from the waist down. Holding her newborn son as they wheeled her out, Lexie smiled as people were applauding for them since they were alright despite the traumatic delivery in the elevator, feeling like she had done something really awesome. Mark stayed glued to her side as they were wheeled to an exam room so she could get checked out because she had given birth so quickly and in a very random place.

Arizona Robbins was paged and came to the room to check out the baby since he had been born in a precarious place and Mark didn't want any other pediatric doctor checking out their son, which Lexie agreed about. Waiting anxiously, Lexie sat in the bed after being changed into a hospital gown until her baby was returned to her.

"Congratulations Mom, he is absolutely healthy!" Arizona declared. "Seven pounds, nine ounces and twenty inches long. His APGAR is a nine and his color looks great."

Lexie took her son in her arms again and held him close, thankful that he was here and that he was healthy. "Thank you."

"That little guy is definitely quite the troublemaker already," she went on, pulling off her gloves and smiling at the new little family.

"Well…he's a Sloan," Mark said, entirely too proud of that fact.

After one final check over both mom and baby, they were all moved up to the maternity ward and given some time alone with their son. Gently and carefully, Lexie passed him to Mark to hold for the first time. The sight of their tiny baby in Mark's arms was enough to make her heart swell as she engrained that image in her mind to remember forever. Father and son were absolutely wonderful together and she knew that she loved seeing this.

"He is really…perfect, Lex," Mark murmured as he glanced up at her.

"I think he looks like you." Their son had Mark's strong features and she could already see them coming out, even if he was only hours old.

"Except the hair," he replied, grinning. "That's all you with the dark, unruly mess."

He really was a perfect blend of their features and she found it impossible not to love the little boy in Mark's arms. They were now a family, the three of them, and she couldn't have been more content with that. Glancing around the room they were now in, she saw the little bassinet for their baby with the nursery card attached to it. Furrowing her eyebrows for a moment, an idea suddenly came to her head. One she couldn't ignore.

"Greyson," she blurted out, surprising even herself with how loud she had said it.

Mark looked up at her, as if he was about to say something or ask what she meant, but she didn't let him continue or even say anything.

"I saw his nursery card over there – it says 'Grey' and 'son' on it so they kind of…blurred together. My – my dad never had any boys, so the Grey name kind of ends with me and my sisters. And I know he is really excited about being a grandpa again, but if you don't like it we can-"

"Lexie," Mark interrupted with a smile. "It's a perfect name."

A smile tugged on the corners of her lips. Their son had a name. And a really great one at that, if Lexie did say so herself. After months of worrying and crying that he didn't have anything to be called, their little guy had a name.

"Greyson Derek Sloan." Saying his whole name aloud for the first time made Lexie's smile grow wider with pride and joy.

"It suits him," Mark said, looking down at their baby.

"I know." Nothing short of being totally unique would have suited their son since their whole relationship was about as different as they came. "I also wanted to talk about Godparents."

"I thought we were going with Derek and Meredith. Did you change your mind?" he asked.

Lexie shook her head in reply. "I just wanted to add someone as a second Godfather for him too. Alex."

"Karev?" Her boyfriend seemed perplexed.

"Yes. He kept me calm in that elevator and literally delivered our son." Admirable things in Lexie's opinion.

Mark nodded in agreement, no argument with her decision. "Alright he can be the second one, but only because you insist on him being a Godfather."

"I do," she said, smiling with her small victory. Then again, she could probably win any argument right about now since she had just given birth and no one wanted to argue with a woman that had just done that.

Over the next hour, they got to know their son a little more and relaxed now that the danger was over. Through her body was tired, she was entirely too happy and wired to sleep right now. Meredith and Derek came by to meet their nephew properly for the first time and bring a real dinner for her and Mark, since hospital food wasn't all that great. Everyone was enamored with their son already, making Lexie even more honored to be his mother.

"I'll say this…he most definitely looks like Mark," Derek chuckled, patting Mark on the back. "Another Sloan man in the world…everyone will have to lock their daughters up in about sixteen years."

Lexie laughed as Mark rolled his eyes sarcastically in Derek's direction. "Well Mark and I will raise him to be a good boy, so no one will have to worry."

"Good…because genetically, God only knows what this kid has going for him. Good looks, charm, and intelligence…that's a deadly trio." Derek shook his head.

"Well that one over there has it…and see how good he is now," Lexie teased, smirking at her boyfriend.

"My boy will be raised right," Mark insisted, looking at their baby in Lexie's arms. "And it looks like Zola and Sofia will have some competition for favorite around the hospital. I saw some of the nurses trying to peek in to see him."

"Well he was born in an elevator…that's kind of an awesome story," Meredith said, smiling. "One that I'm sure he'll enjoy telling people later in life."

Lexie giggled and shook her head. "Well it wasn't so fun when I was pushing him out with no pain meds. Mark will be lucky if I ever let him near me again."

Derek couldn't keep his chuckles in as he nudged Mark while he grumbled and shook his head, muttering under his breath about how women always say that.

"But he was worth every second of it," she added, brushing her hand over her baby boy's dark hair.

When her sister and brother-in-law had gone, Greyson started to fuss, so Lexie had one of the nurses come in to help her try to breastfeed him for the first time. She had decided while she was pregnant that she would be nursing for the first twelve weeks exclusively while she was on maternity leave and then do so when they were home and pump for him to have at day care. It was a decision Mark supported and encouraged as he sat by and watched on, learning what to do to help her if needed. After a few unsuccessful attempts and a little frustration, her son latched on and began to nurse, much to her relief.

"There we go," she cooed softly at him as he was sucking contentedly now.

"Already eating like a champ – that's my boy."

Lexie laughed, knowing how over the moon Mark already was with his son.

"And he likes boobs. He's a Sloan."

"Mark!" she chided in a higher pitch voice. "He is a baby so of course he's going to like them. They're where his food comes from." It didn't surprise her in the least that he would make a comment like that when their baby was hours old.

Even then, he smirked and kissed her head. "I can't believe he is really here," he finally went on after some silence between them.

"Well he had to wait for the most dramatic way to make an entrance."

"He is _your_ son in that way," he teased. "Remember when you showed up to my hotel room and demanded me to teach you?"

"How could I forget?" That night had been the beginning of it all. From there, they had been continually drawn to one another, despite everything wanting to pull them apart. Their love had been tried, tested, and pulled in so many directions that she knew that it was stronger than ever now that they were here in this moment, as a family.

"That was the night I knew I was a goner where you were concerned." He sat by her while Greyson nursed in her arms, unaware of everything else in the world but what was happening right in front of him.

For the longest time, Lexie had fought against the idea of settling down so fast with Mark, but now that Greyson was here, everything had changed in the best way possible. Her heart had always been Mark's and fighting that had only made them both miserable apart. But she had come around and found bliss in the place where she knew it had always been, with Mark. They were a family now and nothing would change that with their son finally being here. He was the literal physical manifestation of their love. And no one could argue that since he had been conceived when they were together and content before they had broken up again.

Once Greyson was done nursing, Lexie gently passed him to Mark and adjusted her gown again, watching her boys. Mark was so gentle with their son and the sight warmed her heart while he was burping him. As he did that, Lexie dozed off a few times until she finally slept from sheer exhaustion. Her sleep was light, but restful as she let her body relax in the bed and held onto the blankets around her. When she jolted awake some time later, she scanned the room and found Mark walking around with Greyson in his arms, softly talking to him. She watched quietly for a few moments before Mark noticed she was awake.

"Telling him any good stories?" she asked sleepily.

"Only about his mom," Mark replied with a smile. "And about how amazing she is."

"Suck up," she snorted.

"Nah…it's the truth," he grinned.

"Teaching him to be a good brown noser early, I see," she jested, trying to hold back a smile before it broke free. "Bring me my baby before you corrupt him."

Mark laughed and padded across the room slowly before laying Greyson in her arms. Taking her son back, she smiled and looked down at the perfect baby boy she had given birth to, looking over his little features. But when she got to his little hands, she stopped and saw something tied around his wrist. Curious, she undid the ribbon and pulled the card up to see what it was, feeling herself stop when she saw what was tied to it and what was written on the card, in Mark's handwriting.

_Mommy, will you marry my Daddy?_

Attached to the card was a diamond ring. Completely in shock, Lexie looked up to Mark to see him watching her for her reaction. She was blindsided by this, for sure, but touched at the same time.

"Lex…I have been holding onto that ring since before we broke up last time. I bought it and was going to propose before…before I messed up. But I'm not going to do that again. I made too many mistakes in the past and almost lost you forever, but I'm not going to let it happen anymore because I love you. I have always loved you and will always be in love with you. We don't have to get married right away…we could wait as long as you wanted, so long as I get to spend the rest of my life with you. So I'm asking…will you marry me?"

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**A/N: Yes or no...what will it be?! _Review_ a little and you shall see! Annnnd that was the lamest rhyme there ever was. But seriously thank you all so much for the support you've given me so far! Here's Greyson's birth announcement as well!  
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_Greyson Derek Sloan_

_Born October 31st_

_5:37pm_

_7lbs 9oz, 20in_


	27. First Night & Coming Home

Mark had taken her completely by surprise as he had proposed to her out of the blue less than twelve hours after the birth of their son, but at the same time…it made sense for him to. For weeks now, they had been living together and had been back together as a couple for a while now. But the same old fear gripped her as she looked from the ring to him. Fear that she wasn't ready for that kind of commitment in her life because she was only twenty-seven and because she wasn't done with her residency yet. And since she had just given birth to a child during residency, she also had this constant desire to prove herself and make it known that she wasn't going to take it easy just because she had a baby. But as she looked at him, it hit her…she loved him with all of her heart and there was literally no other man she wanted to spend her life with other than Mark Sloan.

"Yes – Yes I will marry you," she finally said, grinning widely. "On two conditions…first, we wait until I'm finished with my residency."

Mark nodded. "And the second?"

"You put the ring on my finger. You may not be the 'get down on one knee' kind of man, but you should at least put it on my finger because you asked me." She held out the silver circle to him with a bigger smile.

"Gladly," he said, coming over and taking the ring from her, slipping it on her left ring finger.

Lexie smiled and gazed down at it as it rested on her finger, sparkling against the light of the room. The diamond wasn't too big, which was perfect for wearing it around the hospital and just enough for her. Mark always had good taste and she loved that about him. Moving her hand to his cheek, she drew his face down close and kissed him.

Breaking their kiss, she looked down at their son. "How about that? Mommy and Daddy are getting married." The words rolled right off her tongue and felt really good to say out loud for the first time.

"I have been waiting to hear you say that for the longest time," he murmured as he kissed her head. "I love you."

Those words meant the world to Lexie after all she and Mark had been through in the last few years. To know that they were in this together for life was the best feeling in the world because she had loved him all along and even when she wanted to hate him, she couldn't because he was the love of her life and she was his. It was a huge step for them to take, but then again parenthood was just as big, if not bigger because they now had this little human being to take care of that was all their responsibility.

"I love you too," she replied softly." And I know Greyson loves you too…already."

"He is really something."

"I know…we made him. And he is all ours." Lexie loved that they had made this perfect little being. Though she was still nervous about being a mother, she was happy her son was finally here and that they could hold him in their arms instead of always waiting for him.

They stayed the night at the hospital together as a family since she had given birth in the elevator and they all wanted to make sure everyone was alright. Their first night as parents was a little more than rough as Greyson was up every hour or so, but they managed to get some sleep in here and there. Nursing was a challenge for Lexie as she had to get help quite a few times through the night to get her son to latch on correctly. Mark was supportive though, waking up as often as she did, changing diapers, and making sure their son was comfortable and swaddled up tightly.

During the night, Lexie tried to get some sleep, but more often than not she ended up watching Mark with their son as he slowly walked around the room with him when he wouldn't sleep in the plastic bassinet the nursery brought down. It was one of the sweetest sights she had ever seen and she didn't want to sleep because she was enjoying looking at her fiancé and son. By morning, they were exhausted, but ready to go home.

Sore and tired, Lexie got into the wheelchair holding their baby once the papers were put through that released them from the hospital to go home before Mark wheeled her down to the main lobby to wait while he went to get the car for them. As she waited, she glanced up and saw Alex coming over.

"Hey…how are you and the little guy doing?" he asked, awkwardly scratching his neck. "Everything is alright…no problems or…anything?"

"We're perfect," she replied. Alex always sold himself short when he did a really good thing. "Would you like to hold your Godson?"

"M-my what?" He seemed almost completely shocked as his eyes widened and Lexie laughed.

"I told Mark I wanted you to be his second Godfather because of what you did in the elevator for us. He's here safe because you were there to help deliver him."

"You really think it's a good idea for me to be this kid's Godfather?" he asked.

"I do, now come hold your Godson," she said, smiling at him.

Alex moved over and gently took the baby in his arms, looking about as terrified as any guy who hadn't really held a baby before. It was fairly comical since Alex worked with kids all the time now in Peds, but still seemed pretty clueless when it came to babies.

"He's pretty cute…for a baby," he said, smiling briefly. "What's his name?"

"It's Greyson, actually. Greyson Derek Sloan." Lexie was proud of her son's name since he was not only named after her father and brother-in-law, but he was the only one of Mark's children that had his last name. And she was glad to give that to him first.

"Unique name, but it fits him," Alex nodded. "The littlest Grey."

Lexie smiled and moved in her wheelchair to get comfortable again since her body was still aching from giving birth the previous day. She moved her hands to her lap and fixed one of the baby's blankets that was lying there.

"Whoa…Sloan proposed?" he asked as her ring flashed against some of the light and caught his attention.

"Yeah…he did last night, but we're not getting married until my residency is over." She twirled the ring absentmindedly and felt her lips curl into a smile.

Alex bobbed his head in reply and carefully passed the baby back to her. "Congrats…on everything, Lexipedia. You guys are really good together."

"Thanks," she replied. "I guess we will be seeing you around since I'll probably come visit a lot when Mark comes back to work and I'll still be on maternity leave."

"See ya around," Alex said before disappearing back to work.

Mark brought the car around shortly after and once they were all loaded up, they made their way back home. The whole way, Lexie kept her eyes glued to her son and held his little hand with her finger. Greyson slept most of the way home and all the way into the house before he began wailing. His cries were so pitiful as Mark set the car seat down and Lexie lifted him out of it into her arms.

"Oh what a mess, shh shh shh," she crooned softly to her son as she moved over to the couch. "I bet you're hungry again."

Getting comfortable, she moved her shirt up and undid her bra in the front, thankful for these nursing bras that she thought to buy before she had Greyson. She put the baby to her breast and watched as his cries quieted while he began nursing, content to be right near her again. Greyson rested his little hand against her chest and she began to really study his features. He had a swirl of dark hair on his head, which did look like an unruly mess as Mark said before, and her long, thin fingers. But he took most of his looks from his father, which Lexie was perfectly content with. Her boys were both so handsome.

Mark put their bags away and joined her on the couch, gazing down at their son. He seemed completely in love with their baby and she adored seeing him like this.

"He looks so much like you," she smiled, her eyes never leaving her baby. "I don't think anyone could ever doubt that he was a Sloan."

"I wouldn't let anyone say otherwise," he said, reaching over to smooth some of his hair.

"Did you ever think we would get here?" she asked after a few minutes.

"I knew…someday we would. At least I hoped like hell we would," he admitted. "You were always it for me, Lex."

"And you were for me – no matter how much I wanted to move on, you were always the one."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching their son nurse. It was so easy to just get lost in the calm rhythm of this life and Lexie loved it. Though it had taken them long enough to get here after everything that had almost tore them apart, she knew that their future had something great in store for them.

She would finish out her residency, plan their wedding, and then marry the love of her life after passing her boards in just over a year and a half. By then, Greyson would be walking and probably talking quite a bit and able to stay with Uncle Derek and Aunt Meredith while she and Mark went on a honeymoon. And after that, she would be a surgical fellow, hopefully in Seattle so they wouldn't have to move anywhere far from their family. Until then, she would be settling into motherhood and working on the rest of her residency, preparing for her boards a little over a year from now.

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**A/N: See I told ya it'd be worth it! _Review_ my lovelies!**


	28. Back To Work

Twelve weeks of maternity leave passed far too quickly for Lexie. During that time, she and Mark celebrated their first Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family with Greyson. It was definitely an adjustment for Lexie as a new mother, but overall she was enjoying her time home with her son. While she was home, Derek brought by some of his bigger cases for her to look over so she wouldn't fall behind in her fourth year. Mark, Callie, and Arizona did the same, so she read the files while Greyson slept or was nursing in her arms, often times just reading aloud to him since he liked the sound of her voice.

Her baby boy was growing too, which she was entirely too proud of as a mother. Greyson was now over ten pounds and a fairly happy boy most of the time as well, which she and Mark counted their lucky stars for. His dark hair was still a mess and he had the same gorgeous blue eyes as his dad, which hadn't changed since birth yet, but Lexie knew that it could very well change as he grew older.

"Lex…we gotta go or we'll be late," Mark called from their kitchen while she was stalling in the living room.

Today was her first day back at work since she gave birth and part of her didn't feel ready to go back because it meant leaving her baby at day care. Even though she knew, rationally, that they would take good care of him, she still didn't like the idea of relative strangers caring for her son.

"Mark, I can't do this," she declared as she walked in the kitchen with Greyson in her arms. "I'm not ready to leave him with strangers all day long when he's been with just me or you since he was born. What if he needs me or what if they don't put him to sleep like we do and…"

Her rant was cut short by Mark pressing his finger to her lips before he brought her and their baby in his arms.

"He is going to be just fine, Lex. I know Cindy, who runs the whole center and she will make sure that our son is taken care of and that he has what he needs."

Glancing up at Mark, she would have guessed he already knew the staff of the day care pretty well because Sofia had been going there for months now. Yet she was still scared to leave her son with anyone else. Even Derek and Meredith hadn't kept their boy because she didn't want to not be there when he cried.

"And you can drop by anytime you want to see him during the day when you have some spare time between surgeries and paperwork," he added. "I know this is tough, but every parent goes through it when they go back to work after maternity or paternity leave."

Lexie nodded and looked down at her baby. Sleeping peacefully in her arms, he was blissfully unaware of anything going on or that the routine he was so used to was going to change drastically today. And that made her feel even more guilty because she knew that it would upset him. However, she knew that she needed to go back to work. Her fourth year was carrying on and if she wanted to be prepared for her boards at the end of her fifth year, she needed to go back to work and keep on pressing through her residency like all the others that were in her year.

"Okay," she sighed. "Take the baby and put him in the car seat because I can't do it."

Her fiancé nodded and gently took their son from her, walking into the living room and laying him in the seat, buckling him in before tucking a blanket around him. Greyson didn't seem phased by all the jostling around, which she was thankful for since she wouldn't have been able to handle his cries right now with all the emotions coursing through her already. Anxiety and fear were two things that Lexie had never handled well and adding that to the mix of hormones that she was flooded with as a new mom was like throwing her into the ocean without her knowing how to swim.

When they were ready, they loaded up the car and began the drive to the hospital. Lexie stared out the window and tried to keep herself calm. Her hand had found its way to Mark's as their fingers laced together, keeping her grounded in reality and from falling apart as they arrived to the parking lot of Seattle Grace-Mercy West and parked. They got out and made their way inside, Mark carrying their son in his carrier. But as they got closer to the day care, her anxiety started to really kick up and she tightened her grip on Mark's hand because she honestly didn't feel ready for this.

"Hey, it's going to be alright," Mark assured her as they approached the day care doors.

"What if he needs me?" she asked, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

"We can come see him any time we can during the day. He's going to be fine," he insisted, kissing her head.

Lexie only nodded and took a deep breath before going to the door of the day care center. After a lengthy discussion with the director about Greyson's usual schedule and about his sensitivity to any lotions but his own, she finally had to hand her baby over.

"Mommy will be back soon, baby boy," she promised, kissing his head.

With Mark holding her hand, they left the day care. She went to the residents' locker room and changed into her scrubs. It felt good to be back, honestly, even if she was missing her baby. And today she was on Derek's service, which just made her day. She came out and found her brother-in-law waiting at the nurses' station for her.

"Welcome back, Dr. Grey," her brother-in-law said, grinning. "I've got a craniotomy today if you'd like to scrub in with me."

Lexie smiled warmly. "That sounds perfect – I need a really cool surgery to distract me."

"Well I think I can help with that," he laughed.

In that moment, she was so thankful for Derek since this surgery would provide a perfect distraction to keep her from being worried every moment of the day about Greyson. Getting the chart from him, she went about the prep work for it all morning. At lunch, she stopped in to see Greyson and nursed him while eating her own lunch. When he was full and happy, she burped him before rocking him to sleep and laying him in the crib, kissing his head.

After leaving the day care, she went to scrub in with Derek. Everyone welcomed her back as they began and she settled back into the grove of surgery easily, especially with Derek by her side, letting her take control in certain parts of the procedure. And by the end of the surgery, she felt confident and even cocky again.

"Good job today," Derek complimented as they were scrubbing out.

"Thanks-that felt really good," she said, breathing deeply as she dried her hands. "I missed surgery."

"Well welcome back, Little Grey."

A smile came to Lexie's lips as she walked out of the scrub room and finished the chart before handing it to the nurse. Since she was done for the day, she went and changed out of her scrubs and made a b-line to the day care center to pick up her son. Mark was already there with Greyson when she arrived, making her smile at the sight of her little boy and his father together. She took her son in her arms and held him close.

"Did they say how he did this afternoon?" she asked, looking up at Mark.

He grinned. "He did great. Slept through his nap without a peep, took a bottle after, and had a good play time with some of the other babies."

Lexie was proud of her son, even if she had wanted to spend the day with him, But she knew she needed to get back to work in preparation for her fifth year of residency and then her boards in the following year.

"Ready to go home?" Mark asked.

She nodded and smiled. "More than you know."

They packed up Greyson's things and were on their way once he was secure in his car seat. Mark carried him out to the car while Lexie had his diaper bag and once they were all loaded up, they were on their way home. It felt good to be going home at the end of a long day and Lexie knew she wanted to just cuddle with their son and spend a little time with him before his bedtime came around. The drive home didn't take long and soon enough, they were all inside, comfortable, and winding down for the night. Greyson was nursing as Mark was making them a quick dinner, so she watched their little boy and smiled, knowing how lucky she was to have all of this now.

Dinner, bath, and bedtime went relatively smoothly for them as they laid Greyson in his crib already sound asleep. For the first nine weeks, they had slept with him in their bedroom in the bassinet, but now that he was three months, they were letting him sleep in his own nursery every couple of nights to slowly let him get used to the room so they could eventually transition him there permanently when he was too big for his bassinet. They left the nightlight on for him and slipped out of the nursery to their room with the baby monitor, just in case he woke in the middle of the night and needed them.

"What a day," she yawned as she came into their bedroom and stretched her arms above her head.

Mark came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, planting kisses along her neck. The sensation sent tingles up her spine and made her smile. "Tell me about it."

"I got to scrub in with Derek today on a Craniotomy," she said, turning to face him with a smile. "It felt so good to be back in the OR, Mark…I never realized how much I missed it until that scalpel was in my hands and I was focused on the patient in front of us."

"I knew you'd have a good day when I saw you were on his service," he murmured, kissing her softly. "You're a rock star in the OR…I always knew you were."

Lexie blushed with the compliments and smiled. "As tough as it was to leave Greyson in the day care, I know I needed to come back."

"It gets easier, I promise," Mark promised, kissing along her neck again as his hands roamed underneath her shirt, causing her to flinch.

They hadn't had sex since she gave birth, though she'd been cleared six weeks ago by her doctor for physical intimacy. But her body had changed so much with pregnancy and after delivery, with the stretch marks, flabby stomach, and other unsightly changes she didn't want him seeing. Though Mark insisted that she was beautiful in every way, she knew that she wasn't perfect anymore. Her ass wasn't even that cute anymore, which was one of Mark's favorite parts of her body, so she felt so self-conscious about it all the time.

"Mark…I…I can't," she stumbled, pulling away from him and looking up at her fiancé apologetically. "I'm not me anymore…my…my body isn't the same."

"Lex, you know that I don't think that," he reminded her. "I love you and think you're the most beautiful and sexy woman I know."

"You're just saying that because you have to," she defended, fighting back the tears in her eyes.

He shook his head. "I say it because I mean it. When have I ever said something I don't mean?"

That hit the nail right on the head as Lexie knew he was right about that. Mark Sloan never said anything he didn't mean. He had always been honest with her and that was something she had appreciated in their relationship. And even though she was still insecure about her body, she believed him a little more when he said he still found her attractive, though she didn't know or understand how he could when her body wasn't as fit or cute as it once was.

"We don't have to have sex right nor or any time in the near future, as much as that pains me to say," he went on. "But I will wait for you to be ready again because I want to be with you. And only you."

Lexie laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

"It's me that didn't deserve you," he countered, kissing her head and rubbing her back.

Though they weren't going to have sex anytime soon, she knew that he was honest in his promise to wait for her. And she hoped to maybe take that step back to normality sometime soon since she did miss their intimacy. But for now, she just wanted to be held by him and reminded of the tenderness that Mark Sloan could display whenever most people weren't looking.

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**A/N: I apologize for the long delay...but I will say that this story only has a few more planned chapters, so I will be bringing it to a close soon. Thank you for all your support and, as always, _review_ and let me know your thoughts!**


	29. First Birthday Party

**A/N: Bless you all for your patience! This will be an M chapter toward the end, so forewarning! _Review_ my wonderful readers and let me know your thoughts!**

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Time seemed to get away from Lexie once she had gone back to work. Winter melted away into spring and then summer. With the summer came lots of time in the pool with her boys, watching Mark and Greyson wading around while her son kicked and splashed, making her laugh. There were also nights spent outside in the hammock she and Mark bought, cuddling and kissing long after the baby had gone to bed. And soon enough, it was fall again. Her fifth year of residency was in full swing and she was clocking hours in every specialty of the hospital to get them in before her boards came around in the spring. However, she knew where her passion was and wanted to follow her brother-in-law into Neurosurgery as her own specialty because it was where she could truly shine the brightest.

Motherhood had also changed her in so many ways too as Greyson was growing so fast. He had rolled over at four-months-old and said his first words at five-months-old. And now he was very close to taking his first steps, which had her and Mark on the edge of their seats constantly when they were home with him. Their son was looking more like Mark every day with his facial expressions and blue eyes, meaning Lexie could never say no to him. But he still had her dark hair, which had begun to curl at the base of his neck and at the ends near his face. And absolutely everyone had fallen in love with him over the last year at the hospital.

A year had come and gone since Greyson's birth and they were preparing for his first birthday party at their house, a little Halloween festival of sorts since he was born on the holiday. Her sister and brother-in-law were coming over, as were Alex, April, Chief Webber, Owen, Cristina, Jackson, Bailey, Callie, Arizona, and a few others who had children in day care with Greyson that Lexie had come to know over the last year.

"Here's the birthday boy!" Mark declared as he came downstairs with their son, who was all dressed and ready to go.

Lexie grinned. "There's my big boy!"

Greyson laughed and reached out for her. "Mama!"

She took him in her arms and kissed his head. In the last year, he had grown so much and she was incredibly blessed to have him in her life, happy and healthy. Her baby boy had so much of his father in him that there was no doubt in her mind that he was a Sloan, but she didn't mind at all since both of her boys were so handsome.

"Is everything ready?" Mark asked, looking around their house.

"Just put the last of the balloons up, so I'd say so," she replied. "Are you ready for the mass chaos that is about to happen in our house?"

He laughed and kissed her. "Yeah, bring it on."

"Don't say I didn't warn you,' she grinned as she held their baby boy on her hip. "You remember how crazy Zola's party was with all the kids, so I warned you now."

Mark laughed again and only kissed her before going to make sure everything else was put up out of reach of children that was breakable.

Within thirty minutes, people were arriving and the party started up as the adults started eating and let the kids play since they were all interested in the toys over the food for now. Most of the kids were set up on the floor together playing in a little pool of balls in their costumes since it was Halloween. Zola was a little tiger while Sofia was a monkey with a pink bow. And the birthday boy was dressed as a lion, though no one had really coordinated dressing them all as animals.

"God, I can't believe how fast they all grew," Derek commented, shaking his head.

"I know…and Zozo will be two soon," Lexie added, amazed with how fast time had flown since they became parents.

"Right now we're hoping she will just skip the terrible twos phase altogether, but we'll see," her sister spoke up as they watched the kids play.

"Zozo isn't bad though, at least not for me," she grinned.

Lexie loved being an aunt to a niece that lived close by. Since Molly had moved away with Laura, it was hard to be close with her like she was with Zola. So she did her best with Laura via Skype dates with her younger sister and spent a lot more time with Zola in person, letting Greyson have a lot of play dates with his older cousin.

"Well when she starts having tantrums, we'll send her your way," Derek teased.

"I think we'll have our hands full with just Greyson alone," she quickly replied, making Mark laugh.

"And he's a Sloan, so that automatically makes him trouble," Mark smirked.

Lexie elbowed him playfully. "He is also my baby, so that like…cancels out the trouble part. But he will be talkative…no doubt about that since he'll get it from both you and me."

Everyone seemed to agree with that idea, especially since Lexie was his mother. She was well known for all the of the rants and rambles that she tended to get off on when she was upset, excited, or just plain in a rush. That was something that hadn't gone away with time or even maturity…it was just built into her personality and her brain.

She was so thankful for all the people that were here to celebrate her son's first birthday, though he wouldn't remember it. Glancing over, she saw Alex kneeling by the kids, making Greyson laugh with his goofy faces.

Slipping away from Mark and the others, she came over. "You know, you'd make a great dad one day."

"Me?" Alex always seemed genuinely shocked when people complimented him or said he would be good at something. "I…I would probably screw my kid up."

She shook her head and smiled. "I don't believe that for one second, Alex. You're great with Greyson and you're a Peds surgeon. Kids adore you."

He snorted. "Gotta have a woman willing to have kids with me for that to happen and those aren't fresh on the ground."

"I've seen you flirting with that intern, what's her name…Jo Wilson." Lexie let the all-knowing smile spread across her lips as saw Alex's face grow red.

"Wilson and I were not flirting," he defended quickly.

Lexie caught the falter in his eyes and knew he was lying. "Liar – you like her."

Her friend reddened further. "Do not. She is just some intern that pissed me off."

"Well – so was I when Mark and I met."

Leaving him with those words, she smiled and returned to her fiancé smugly. The party continued on until the kids started to get tired and cranky. Everyone said their goodbyes as they thanked them for coming. After everyone had left, she and Mark laid their little boy in his crib before retreating to their own bedroom for the night.

"I can't believe our baby is a year old," she said, slipping out of her dress to hang it up in the closet.

Mark came over to her and leaned in, kissing her as he ran his hands along her bare sides. "Time flew fast, huh?"

She nodded and cupped his cheek. "He isn't my little baby anymore and sometimes that makes me sad because I know he is getting bigger way too fast."

"We could always make him a little brother or sister tonight," he suggested, winking at her.

"How about we wait until I take my boards to start talking about any more babies?" she immediately asked with a laugh.

"Deal," he replied, kissing her deeply as his hands roamed over her hips down to her backside, squeezing it once gently.

Lexie moaned into the kiss, pressing her body to his, tugging at his shirt before lifting it off of him. It had taken about four months and a lot of gentle coaxing for Lexie to be intimate with Mark after their son's birth, but once they had reestablished sex, she remembered how amazing he was and forgot her insecurities in the moment.

"That doesn't mean we can't practice making another one," she murmured against his lips with a smile.

Mark grinned wickedly as she tugged his jeans down and off. "I have no objections to sex with my fiancé whatsoever."

"I knew you wouldn't," she laughed, moving him toward their bed.

Pushing him on his back, she straddled him in just her panties and bra, leaning in and kissing him deeply. The feel of his tongue sliding against hers made her groan as she kissed him and moved her hands along his bare chest. With a baby in the house, it was much harder to find time to be intimate, but she knew that she and Mark still had more sex than most other parents out there because they made time for it.

"God Lex…you are so sexy," he mumbled in her ear as he kissed down her neck.

She sat up and smiled as she unhooked her bra and threw it off the bed, leaving her chest bare. "Is that so?"

Without warning, Lexie found herself being rolled onto her back on the bed as Mark kissed down to her chest. Arching up as he reached her breasts, she moaned out loud and dug her fingers into his arms. She bit her lower lip and tried to be quiet, but with Mark it was a lot easier said than done. His tongue was twirling around her nipple and making her heart race. But when he began sucking on one, she cursed under her breath.

"Mark…" she whined, moving her hands down to his boxers, massaging his already growing erection. "You're…you're teasing…"

Mark paused to look up at her with one of his infamous smirks. "I thought you liked the teasing, Little Grey."

The use of her nickname made her moan again as she reached under his boxers and began to stroke him slowly, deciding that if he was going to tease her, she was going to tease him. He was already growing rock hard from her attention and she knew that she wouldn't be waiting much longer because of her impatience. Pausing her ministrations, she slid his boxers down as far as she could manage with her hands while he kept assaulting her chest with kisses and his velvety tongue before using her foot to wiggle them down the rest of the way, leaving just her panties between them.

"Someone is impatient tonight," he teased, looking up at her from her chest. "But I think we need to get rid of these…"

Mark slid her panties down and tossed them somewhere in the room before moving up to kiss her lips, running the tip of his erection over her center, causing her to buck her hips up and moan loudly in the kiss. She wanted him so bad and so desperately right now, so she decided she was done waiting and used all of her weight to push him over on his back and straddled his waist, looking down at him. All Mark could do was grin as she reached down between them and took his manhood and guide it into her as she slowly took him in inch by inch, moaning in the process as he filled her completely.

"So tight Lex…" he groaned, moving his hands to her hips, guiding her up and down on him as she began to ride him slowly.

Her hands pressed to his chest, she rocked her hips up and down, sliding his length in and out of her, moaning and biting her bottom lip to keep from being too loud. He felt so good gliding in and out of her as she moved her hips in differing motions to get different sensations, all pushing her toward her own pleasure. Mark seemed to be enjoying himself too as one hand remained on her hip to guide her while the other had moved up to cup her face as she leaned in to kiss him, nearing the edge of her orgasm. The angle of his thrusts were just right as she came undone a few moments later and threw her head back.

"Mark!" she cried out, feeling completely tingly and numb as she was coming off of her high when he soon followed.

Remaining on top of him, she panted and looked at her fiancé lovingly as she leaned up and kissed him tenderly on the lips. She was completely in love with this man and knew that she was lucky to have him in her life, as well as their son's. Of all the men in the world, she was glad to have found Mark Sloan.

"I love you," she murmured softly, laying her head down on his chest to listen to the beating of his heart.

"I love you too."


	30. Wedding Day

Lexie could hardly believe that today was the day. She and Mark were _finally_ going to tie the knot and she would become a Sloan officially, joining Mark and their son with the same last name for the first time. They had been counting down the days since he had proposed the day their son was born almost twenty months ago, but Mark had been patient enough to allow her to get through residency and take her boards before the wedding.

Like everyone expected, Lexie passed her boards with flying colors and had accepted a fellowship with Seattle Grace-Mercy West under Derek in the Neuro department. She was proud the day she got her navy scrubs and was offered positions in Seattle, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York. But Seattle was home. It was where she fell in love and where her family was, though Mark told her time and again that they could move anywhere she wanted to begin her career. But she wanted to stay close to home, so Greyson could grow up with his cousins close by.

"You look absolutely perfect," April gushed, fussing over the last few details as Lexie came out of her thoughts. "Mark won't be able to take his eyes off of you today."

"Well Jackson can't keep his off of you," she retorted with a smile.

"I…we…it's complicated," her friend stuttered. "I don't know what we are and it's been that way for a while, since I took my boards the first time."

Lexie put her hand on April's. "Don't let things be complicated. If you love him and he loves you, then let it happen. Don't make the same stupid mistakes that I did with Mark because it just causes a lot of heartache when you try to pull away from the one you love."

Her friend nodded in understanding. "I just got scared. Jackson…he was my first and then I really fell in love with him."

"Then you're one of the lucky ones that find it with just one shot," she said delicately as she fixed her veil. "Jackson is a really great guy and someone that has been my friend through a lot."

April smiled and helped arrange the last of Lexie's curls into place before she was really ready. She had been so thankful for April's help during all the wedding planning and knew that she would return the favor one day when April got married too, if and when that happened. Her older sister handed her the flowers that were waiting before hugging her.

"You look gorgeous," Meredith smiled. "And I think it's time."

A deep breath gathered in Lexie's chest before she exhaled and nodded. Zola and Sofia looked so cute in their flower girl dresses while Greyson looked so handsome in his little suit, just like she knew Mark looked incredible in one too. The Sloan men were all so handsome and Lexie felt lucky to be their wife and mother. Everything was ready and so was she, except for one thing. Her mother wasn't here. And that hurt Lexie quite a bit when it hit her as her father came in.

"Dad…" she breathed, holding back her tears as he came over and kissed her cheek.

"You look beautiful kiddo," he told her, smiling as he hugged her.

Thatcher Grey was not a perfect man, by any means, but he was her father and he had done his best to get his life together in light of losing her mother. He had been sober well over three years now and was a great influence in her son's life, as he adored his grandson dearly. Greyson had taken a particular liking to his grandfather and loved how goofy he was from time to time.

"Thank you, Dad," she said genuinely, holding onto him for a moment and wishing that her mother could be here to witness this moment.

"I have something for you," he said, pulling back and reaching into his coat pocket to pull out a necklace Lexie was all too familiar with.

"Oh Dad…" she gasped. "That…that's the necklace you gave Mom on your wedding day."

Thatcher nodded and held it up. "She would have wanted you to have it on your special day and to keep for your future daughter, someday."

Moving her hair, she let her father put the necklace on and held back her tears again. "This is going to be my something old."

Her father gave her a genuine smile. "You look so much like your mother sometimes. And she would have been proud of you, for all your accomplishments and for the beautiful family you have."

His words brought tears to Lexie's eyes and she was thankful she had waterproof mascara and eyeliner today, since this probably wouldn't be the first time she had tears in her eyes from happiness or reminiscing about the things that were important to her and Mark's life. Lexie wished that her mother could have seen her go on and become a doctor, fall in love, have a child, and get married, but she knew undoubtedly that her mother would be here today in spirit, watching over them just as she was the day Greyson was born. And that was the important thing to remember as she fixed her veil one more time and held her flowers in her hand, taking a deep breath as everyone else filed out of the room. Derek and Jackson had come by to get Meredith and April to go down the aisle first, but soon enough, it was her turn.

Holding onto her father's arm, Lexie made her way into the chapel and held her breath as the doors opened. The chapel itself was beautiful, with the flowers she had chosen for the wedding draped on the seats, and the arch at the front, waiting for her…right along with Mark. He was so handsome in his tuxedo and she couldn't keep her eyes off of him as she walked down the aisle with her father. When they made it down to the front, she could see how happy Mark was as Thatcher gave her away and placed their hands together.

"Welcome friends, families, and honored guests. We are here to celebrate love. Love organizes our large and sometimes unpredictable world. It is that which enshrines and ennobles our human experience. It is the basis for the peace of family, and the peace of the peoples of the earth. The greatest gift bestowed upon humans is the gift of love freely given between two persons," the officiant began, looking at Lexie and Mark. "We gather here today to witness the joining of two lives together. Mark Everett Sloan and Alexandra Caroline Grey have come together, freely of their own will, to be joined together in matrimony. And we all bear witness to this prestigious occasion for them."

While the officiant began their ceremony, Lexie kept her eyes on the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. His hands were warm and comforting as he held hers and looked back in her eyes, smiling and mouthing 'I love you' to her. She was completely happy in this moment and knew that she had the best man possible to spend her life with.

"All of you are present today because you, in one way or another, have been part of Lexie's or Mark's life. On behalf of the bride and groom, a hearty welcome to all. Today we witness a marriage that began with a single look and one little intern telling off her boss. From there grew one of the most beautiful and complicated love stories, but it is their story. And one they want to share with all of their family and friends today. Lexie and Mark have also chosen to express their love in their own vows."

Mark looked at Lexie and smiled. "The first time I ever saw you, I had no idea how much you would change my life; Or how you would be the woman that I fell in love with completely and totally. Admittedly, Derek was the reason that I ever took interest because he forbid me to talk to you, but in defying his wishes, I met the most amazing and wonderful woman I've ever known," Mark said, holding her hands. "Lexie, you challenge me in so many ways and have given me the most remarkable life with our family. And you've forgiven my faults, still loving me despite the many times that I messed up and hurt you in the past. The life we have together isn't one I would trade for anything else in the world, so today I'm promising you the rest of my life. To be your husband, faithful and true to only you, for better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness or health, til death do us part. I love you, Lexie, and we were always meant to be."

When it was her turn, Lexie smiled and took a breath. "Moving to Seattle after medical school was the last thing I thought I'd ever do, but it turned out to be the best decision I ever made because it lead me to you. As surgeons, we say we don't believe in fate, but I think that somehow…fate brought me to you," she began, squeezing his hands with her own. "Most people would look at us and wonder how a couple that is so different could be together, but as I once said, most people don't know us. And we have always adapted to a hostile environment, right from the beginning. You are the love of my life and my soul mate, giving me the most beautiful life with you and our family, no matter how many ups and downs we've had in the past. So I'm promising you everything today…my life, faithfulness, heart, and soul until the day I day as your wife, soul mate, and life partner. I love you, Mark. Always have and always will."

When their vows were said, the officiant looked to Lexie. "Do you Lexie, accept this man, Mark, as your husband — joining with him today in matrimony — offering your friendship and loving care — honoring his growth and freedom as well as your own — cherishing and respecting him, loving and embracing him in times of adversity and times of joy? If so, answer now, 'I do.'"

Lexie smiled. "I do."

"Please repeat after me: With this ring, I thee wed. Take it as a sign of my everlasting and unconditional love with all that I am and all that I have from this day forward as your wife."

She repeated the words and took the ring from Meredith, sliding it on Mark's finger as she did.

The officiant turned to Mark next. "Do you Mark, accept this woman, Lexie, as your wife — joining with her today in matrimony — offering your friendship and loving care — honoring her growth and freedom as well as your own – cherishing and respecting her, loving and embracing her in times of adversity and times of joy? If so, answer now, 'I do.'"

"I do," Mark replied, keeping the smile on his face.

"Please repeat after me: With this ring, I thee wed. Take it as a sign of my everlasting and unconditional love with all that I am and all that I have from this day forward as your husband."

Mark also repeated the words as he took the ring from Derek and slid it onto her finger, looking up at her as he did.

"Love freely given has no giver and no receiver. You are each the giver and each the receiver. The wedding ring is a symbol, in visible form, of the unbroken circle of your love, so that wherever you go, you may always return to your shared life together. May these rings always call to mind the power of your love."

Her heart was beating faster as she felt the nearing of the words she had waited to hear all day long and every moment since she accepted Mark's proposal over a year and a half ago. Every single moment of their relationship had been leading up to this moment and Lexie knew that with the pronouncement of their marriage, they would begin a new step in their life as a family. But right in that moment, like all Greys and Sloans, their son decided to make the show about him.

"Mama hol' me!" he cried, moving away from where Meredith had been holding his hand to come over and raise his arms up.

Everyone seemed to think that was the cutest thing in the world as they murmured in the crowd. Lexie didn't hesitate to let go of Mark's hands for a moment to pick up their son to hold him on her hip. No one seemed to mind either since they all knew that she and Mark had a family. Greyson was perfectly content to lay his head on his mother's shoulder and look over at his Daddy, who was grinning at him and reached over to rub his cheek.

The officiant didn't miss a beat. "Lexie and Mark, in the presence of your family and friends who have joined you to share this moment of joy, you have declared your deep love and affection for each other. You have stated your wish to live together, always open to a deeper, richer friendship and partnership. You have formed your own union, based on respect and honor. Therefore, it is my joyful responsibility to officially acknowledge your union as "Husband and Wife." You may now seal your marriage with a kiss."

Without hesitation, Mark leaned over and kissed her. She moved her free hand to his cheek and kissed him back with all she had, their son right between the two of them as he had always been. The cheers and applause from the crowd made her blush a little as they broke the kiss and he took her hand into his own as Meredith helped move her dress behind her. When she offered to take Greyson, Lexie shook her head and smiled, knowing that he had been a part of them since the moment he was conceived.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my privilege to present to you for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Lexie Sloan!"

They made their way back up the aisle together before they were given a few moments of privacy. Mark held her in his arms and kissed their son's head. For a few moments, they were just a little family and Lexie liked that. It was nice to have the privacy for a little while and Lexie enjoyed those moments where she could just kiss her husband and hold her son in her arms before the madness of photos ensued. Once the official photos were taken and everyone was ready, they all made their way to the reception, which was close by. Everyone was introduced and came in accordingly before she and Mark made their entrance and took their seats.

Dinner was served and almost everyone was having fun just talking, laughing, and mingling with one another. And even the little ones, who were all together at the bridal table since their parents were in the wedding, were having fun giggling and making each other laugh. Lexie would have never imagined having her own child at her wedding, but couldn't think of it any other way now that Greyson was in their lives. He was so precious and she knew she would treasure these memories with him.

When she and Mark were called to do their first dance, she took Mark's hand as he held it out to her and went out to the dance floor. Being held in his arms was a comforting feeling as she rested her forehead against his and danced around while pictures were being taken of their first dance.

"Today was perfect," she murmured to him, realizing how happy she was.

Kissing her head, he smiled. "I thought so too…you look absolutely gorgeous, Lex."

"I wanted everything to be perfect for us today, so when I saw this dress…I just knew," she replied, looking up at him before she kissed him.

"Well today was perfect. And I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else but you, Lexie…you've given me everything and so much more."

"I have one more surprise for you today," she said, looking up at her husband as they were dancing and everyone had joined them on the dance floor.

"A surprise?" he asked, looking down at her as he arched a brow.

Lexie nodded and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I'm pregnant."

Mark stopped, completely surprised as he looked at her with a grin before kissing her. She knew he was happy with the news and there were no words needed in that moment. They were happily married, had a son, and were now going to welcome a second little one into the world early next year. Lexie couldn't have imagined a better life for herself as she danced the night away with her husband, celebrating what they had built together and what was to come.

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**A/N: Like that little surprise at the end? I thought you guys might. _Review_ and let me know! The next chapter will be the last for this story as I bring it to a close, so I wanted to thank you all for being on this journey with me.**


	31. These Words Are My Diary

_I can't believe it's been so long since I've written in here, but there have been many things that have happened since I wrote so long ago. I welcomed a son into the world on Halloween in the elevator of Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital after I moved back to Seattle once Mark came to see me and found out I was pregnant. Greyson Derek Sloan was born past his due date in the elevator, delivered by Alex, who we named as one of his Godfathers, along with Derek of course. On that day, Mark proposed to me and I accepted on the condition that I finish my residency first and take my boards, which he agreed to. And so began our journey into parenthood. Greyson's first year was something else, as we learned all about his personality, which follows mine pretty closely with bits of Mark's cockiness thrown in. He is something else though and we've loved every moment of our journey with him as parents._

_Mark and I are married now, can you believe it? We got married just after I passed my boards to become a certified surgeon, which I have been for quite some time now. In January of the following year, we welcomed our second child…a beautiful little girl we named Emma. Emma Susan Sloan was born a week before her due date, in a regular delivery room with Mark standing by my side, thank God. I don't know how I would have reacted to another interesting delivery. But everything was fine and our baby girl was perfect. It's been almost a year since then and everything has been so wonderful. Greyson is now three and an absolute joy to be around with his big personality and smile that just makes you love your day. And Emma, my sweet little girl, has blossomed into a babbling, cheerful, and outgoing baby. Her first birthday is soon, so we are planning for that party. My life is really nothing like I thought it would be four years ago, but there is nothing I would change about it now. I love my family._

Lexie shut her journal and put it away in her desk before hearing the laughter of her toddler downstairs, followed by the shrill laugh of her baby girl. Greyson and Emma were so funny to watch together since Emma thought everything her big brother did was hilarious. She had caught more than one of those moments on camera when Greyson would be making faces at his sister, only to make her laugh and wave her arms around if she was in her swing or laying on the ground on a blanket. Though she and Mark had worried about the jealousy factor for their eldest, Greyson had transitioned into being a big brother easily. He loved Emma and told them all as much just about every day, which was the cutest thing she'd ever seen.

She came downstairs to find her son building a tower with his blocks, only to knock it down a few moments later, making both himself and Emma laugh. Mark was sitting close by, watching with amusement with a video camera in his hand, recording the whole thing. The whole sight made Lexie smile as she leaned against the doorframe of the living room, looking in at her little family with happiness.

Life had changed so much for Lexie and Mark in the last year and a half, much like it had for everyone. Jackson and April tied the knot almost a year after Lexie and Mark, including Greyson, Sofia, and Zola in their wedding. They were now expecting their first baby, who was due right sometime early in the summer. Alex finally admitted his feelings for Jo and they had begun dating around the time Emma was born and Alex had proposed to her on Halloween.

The proposal had happened during Greyson's third birthday party, but Lexie had known beforehand and helped out. She was happy to see that Alex had found someone that was good for him and who challenged him the way that Jo Wilson did. Ironically, Greyson was dressed up as a mini-surgeon and helped his Godfather propose to Auntie Jo by giving her a fake jeweled ring before Alex gave her the real one. It was the cutest thing Lexie had ever seen and she joked about how her son had been a part of two proposals by the age of three.

Years ago, when she had been pregnant with Greyson, she couldn't have imagined that her life would wind up like this…married, happily, with two wonderful children and a husband that she loved with all of her heart. Though they didn't have a conventional life, with Mark having a daughter that was grown and a daughter with his lesbian best friend, it was their life. And there was something about that which was special and unique to them.

"Mommy come pay wif us!" her son urged, bringing her out of her thoughts and back to the present.

"I'm coming, Little One," she replied, walking over and kissing his head and Emma's before kissing Mark and sitting down.

They shared a smile before playing on with their children. They had been through so many ups and downs in their relationship and their lives, but now they were finally in a good place. A place where they had a family and love; a love that Lexie knew would last the rest of her life and the rest of Mark's. Lexie couldn't have imagined a better life than the one they had right now and didn't want to.

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**A/N: And so ends our journey for this story, my friends. I apologize that this ending chapter is so short and has taken me so long to update, as school has started for me. But thank you all SO much for all your support and love during this story! Please let me know how you feel about it and stay tuned as there may be another story in the works!  
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